Kitsune Shippūden
by Winnow
Summary: Kitsune, a code name and second identity established by the Hokage. Using his abilities, Kitsune will try to fulfill his promises and achieve his childhood goal. Still, shadows hide everywhere. An ANBU knows that.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any other copyrighted material. This story is not designed to make a profit. If this story is being used to make a profit it is not of the desires of the author. This story has been written for fanfiction. This work maybe be downloaded and built upon, but may not be used for making a profit. Any act doing so would require a contract with the author (me). Any distributions of this story must have similar copyright license.

* * *

Prologue: Beginnings

**Lightning danced** along the towering clouds. What was once an ominous view on the horizon quickly erupted into a fierce display of power and fury. Loud crashes rang throughout the tiny clearing of trees, while wind ripped and tugged at anything in its path. Rain fell like icy bullets, soaking everything completely through. Most people at the site of such a storm would call it a day. They'd close down their businesses and head home to wait out the storm with their families, or if one was traveling, they might try to find a large cave or a sturdy tree to make shelter. To the four ninja standing in the middle of the clearing, the thought of seeking shelter could have come across their minds, if they could still think with the shear amount of killing intent rolling through the area with the thunder.

Of the four ninjas, one was standing alone. This shinobi had bright red eyes with three black commas around each pupil. His skin was pale—gained from being underground for a couple of years. He was also wearing a white shirt—now drenched from the from the rain becoming slightly opaque and drooping heavily—was open to reveal his chest and was flapping in the wind, but this didn't seem to effect the man. The pants he wore were pitch black, but around his waist there was a blue cloth held securely by a purple belt that snaked around his body. The man slowly unsheathed a chokuto that was secured to his back. He played with it for a while, as if trying to decide what to do with it.

The next person was a shinobi—jonin—with silver hair. He wore the standard attire; a green flak jacket that was accompanied by a blue long sleeve shirt and matching pants. The lower part of his face was veiled by a mask. The hitai-ate across his forehead was the standard navy blue, with Konohagakure no Sato's symbol carved into the metal. The most interesting feature about the man was his left eye. Unlike his right eye that contained a small black pupil and iris, his left was the same eye that the pale skinned man had. His left eye also had a scar running down from his forehead to under his mask—it was a sign of experience; to walk away from such a violent attack meant that the man possessed skill.

The third person was a kunoichi. Of the four ninja, she was visibly the most shaken. A very slender woman, her most noticeable feature was her bright pink hair. Pink strands hung in front of her eyes as torrents of water fell off the individual fibers. She was wearing a red sleeveless shirt and a pink skirt with black shorts underneath. Her elbows were also covered in pink protectors to help protect herself from scrapes. In her right hand was kunai. She gripped the tiny weapon so tightly that her knuckles were white and her arm was shaking. To an experienced ninja, this meant one thing—fear.

Adjacent to the pink haired girl was a man different from all the others; different in that he had no discernible features. The only details about him were his long tan hooded coat and fox-shaped mask. The symbol of Konohagakure was on the mask, etched into where the person's forehead would be.

The pale skinned man, regardless of the passive look on his face, was becoming annoyed. Tired of the staring contest between him and the coat covered figure, he began to speak in hopes that it would move this farce along.

"Poor Sakura. Still as weak as ever. You should have spent more time training."

Before the girl could even begin to respond at the taunt through her fear induced haze, the man in the tan coat spoke.

"Hatake-san, please escort Haruno-san from the premises."

The girl, Sakura, having finally worked up the courage, began to speak after hearing that she was to be removed from the area. She was not too weak to help; she had proven herself. This time Sakura Haruno wouldn't sit and cry as other went off to fight.

"No, what about Naruto?"

No answer came from the masked man.

"Fine then, why are you here? What do you plan to do?" she asked hoping to get a response. The retrieval mission was supposed to be her and Naruto's job.

Only silence was her answer.

"I won't let you kill Sasuke. I have to get him back for Naruto. Is Naruto okay? Please, where is he?" she pleaded again.

The mask man turned towards the girl. A tense few seconds went by as the man decided what to say. The girl stared at him intently; the man suddenly had a feeling that any answer he could give her wouldn't be enough.

"Naruto is fine. Leave now and return to the village. Sasuke Uchiha will not be harmed by order of the Hokage and Village Councils."

The girl began to protest, but the tan covered man appeared behind her and knocked her out. As her body began to tumble to the ground, the man caught her and picked her up bridal style. For a brief moment, the man couldn't help but notice just how beautiful she looked—this was not the time for such thoughts though.

"Hatake-san please take Haruno-san from me and return to the village," the man ordered again.

The silver haired jonin was still. "It's the wish of the Hokage," the masked man clarified.

Mentally shrugging off his confusion, it was clear that the ANBU didn't want his help and since he had no authority to challenge the Black Ops ninja; he decided it was best to follow orders. The masked man could handle himself, of that he was certain.

Throwing the limp girl over his shoulder the jonin jumped into the trees to clear the area and find shelter from the storm. He was wet and it was beginning to get uncomfortable. As he was jumping through the trees, the girl on his shoulder made a small whimper that sounded like "Naruto" and shed a single tear that was lost in the rain.

The pale man known as Sasuke looked away from the retreating form of his old sensei back to the single figure in the field. He studied the man. A fight was eminent; he pointed his chokuto at the man menacingly.

"That was quite a performance," the Uchiha praised in a voice that could freeze blood, "but I'm afraid it's time for you to end your act, Naruto."

* * *

**Updated: **11/24/10


	2. Chapter 1: The Return

A Glossary has been provided at the end of that chapter with the terms I believe some might need help with. I believe they are right, but someone might want to check.

* * *

Chapter One: The Return

**It was another humid day** in Konohagakure no Sato. The warm moist air seemed to cling to the body and anyone alien to the area would be panting, but to the citizens of Konoha, it was just another day. The villagers began the activities of normal day. Architects and construction workers began the last few minor repairs needed from the Sound's attack on the village. After two years the ugly scar in the village from the brief war was finally beginning to heal. Merchants and shoppers flooded the streets, looking to do business, while shinobi jumped along rooftops heading to their respective tasks and missions.

Team Ebisu, after a couple hours of toiling in the heat, had finally managed to find Tora, Madam Shijimi's (who is the Fire Daimyo's wife) cat. Konohamaru, after remarking that if he were the cat he'd run away too, complained about how boring D-rank missions were. Ebisu began to lecture him again, but Konohamaru just rolled his eyes and ignored his sensei. It wasn't like other teams couldn't handle that damn cat and besides if Naruto-nii-chan was able to go on an A-rank mission as a genin fresh from the academy, why couldn't he? They could at least get a C-rank mission, anything other than these pathetic missions. He was the grandson of the Sandaime Hokage and a pupil of Naruto; he could handle it. He was going to be the Nanadaime Hokage.

"Why the Nanadaime, why not the Rokudaime?" asked the Godaime Hokage. She was confused, surely she wasn't old enough to retire before the boy became a competent ninja. Wait, was he calling her old? There would be hell to pay if he was. Tsunade Senju, if not known for her terrible luck, was known for her temper. Konohamaru wouldn't last a second against her, but before she could even begin to get mad at Konohamaru, the boy answered her question.

"The Rokudaime will be Naruto-nii-chan."

The boy had a smug look on his face as everyone was surprised by his answer. It had been a while since anyone had mentioned the Naruto's name around the village. Those in the room that knew the boy could only happily reminisce at the sound of him. It had been two years since he left. He was due to be back soon.

"Naruto-nii-chan?" Udon asked aloud to know one in particular after the Team Ebisu had finally been dismissed.

"I wonder where he is?" Moegi, the team's only female, pondered.

"I'm sure he'll be an awesome shinobi when he comes back," Konohamaru concluded. He didn't know how right he was.

* * *

The path leading to the village is always very well maintained. For travelers heading into Konoha, it would be a pain to cross a pot-hole filled road. For peddlers navigating from place to place, difficult roads mean wasted time and every businessman knows that time is money. Therefore it is in the best interest of a nation to encourage traveling by maintaining the roads.

Hi no Kuni is covered in thick forests. The canopy formed by these trees provides much needed shade for the paths leading to the village. Not all of the sun can be blocked by the thick leaves though, this causes tiny rays to sparkle down from above, covering the ground in bright patches. This aesthetic scene was one of the reasons why Konoha was known for being one of the more beautiful hidden villages. Travelers would come from hundreds of miles for the natural beauty of the area. This morning's travelers, approaching the rising gates on the horizon, were familiar with the scenery. A tranquil feeling fell upon the two men as their sharp eyes caught sight of the defensive walls; for the first time in two years, they could say that they were home.

The oldest man was a hermit with long white hair, the self-proclaimed super-pervert Jiraiya. Known by many of the five nations as the Gama Sennin, the man was finally returning to Konoha with his second prized pupil. With the village so near, the hermit's pupil, a young male blond, was starting to get restless. The boy even after two years grueling training was still so full of life and energy. It amazed Jiraiya just how much boy had changed in two years, but he knew it would be best to remind the boy about his orders.

"Eh, Naruto."

"Yes sensei?" the boy asked. He momentarily stopped his subconscious itching to run into the village and took a more relaxed pose with his hands relaxing on the back of his skull as he turned to face his sensei.

"I shouldn't have to remind you, but," the hermit began. The boy made a small grumble, but decided it was best not to ignore his teacher. "Don't discuss what happened over the past two years with anyone without my strict permission."

"I understood it the first time sensei. I know it's for my own good. I can't imagine how the village would react. Besides I want to earn their respect, though I feel it might still be difficult," the boy replied a bit solemnly.

His sensei was proud of his perception, but he didn't want him to feel down. So Jiraiya decided to praise the young man. Naruto, for all his spirit and selflessness, loved attention, especially after being deprived of it for so long.

"Don't worry. I'm sure Hime has the village whipped. I bet if they even roll their eyes at you they will have to deal with Tsunade's temper; she really is like a protective Obaa-san. Don't tell her I said that; she'll kill both of us if she finds out. Even with our combined strengths, an angry Tsunade is something that I don't think we could handle."

The two laughed at the image of the Hokage throwing her desk at them and then chasing the two around Konoha with the intent to kill.

"One last time," Jiraiya continued after a few moments, prompting Naruto to sigh. "Don't show your true strength until the right time, I'd rather you use the Kyuubi's chakra than your own at first, just be careful, that demon will try anything now that you don't need him."

"I know. I know," Naruto replied in an annoyed tone. The incessant lecturing was getting on his nerves. "I'm not a baka, sensei."

"Yes, but you used to be," a smug Jiraiya countered.

Naruto narrowed his eyes on the hermit, "Fine then, Ero-Sennin."

Naruto, with a foxy grin, watched as his sensei's face contorted in anger. "I thought you had finally stopped calling me that!"

"Yeah, but I used to call you that. It would look suspicious if I finally started to respect you."

Jiraiya could only grumble at the boy's logic. The boy had won this round, but Jiraiya had an ace up his sleeve. Now wasn't the time for it, but someday, when the boy least expected it, the Gama Sennin would have his revenge.

* * *

For those in the military profession, time of peace can be a blessing and a sin. War is a terrible fact of civilization, but it does give those in the military something to do. Times of peace are just—boring, especially for chunin stuck with the meager leftovers that could be called assignments. To the two ninjas monitoring the traffic coming in and out of the village, this guard seemed like it could be a civilian job. Why did they have to be stuck here? Any person in their right mind could spot an enemy shinobi and alert the town's ninja. Besides, if a really powerful group like the Akatsuki approached, what could Izumo and Kotetsu do against a group like them anyways? It would take a hundred chunin to slow them down.

Half-way through their eight hour shift the two chunin began to drift off. Reality and their daydreams becoming almost interchangeable. It was through this haze like state that Naruto and Jiraiya walked through. At first it seemed like a dream, but after a quick double take there was no doubt in their minds, it was real.

"Hey was that—"

"Yeah, no doubt about it."

* * *

Sakura was making her way through Konoha's busy streets. Rush hour had finally set upon the town. Even though the bustling streets were filled with the cries of merchants and laughter of children, it all seemed too quite. The whole village had been that way for the past couple of years. It's surprised her to no end how much of a difference the blond baka made.

"Sakura-nee-chan!"

Someone was calling her name. The pink hair girl turned around to see Team Ebisu running up the street to meet her. Konohamaru was the first to approach. After all these years, the boy was still the one in charge of what could be considered Naruto's fan club.

"Konohamaru," Sakura said as she acknowledged the boy with a wave.

"Where are you going?" the scarf wearing boy asked. He was breathing a little heavily. The three of them must have been searching for her for a while now.

"The main gate," Sakura answered. "I'm going to pick up the traffic report for Tsunade-sama. Do you want to come?" It would be nice to have a little company along the way. If she couldn't have Naruto with her, the second coming might do.

As the four walked along to the gate, the three genin began retelling their morning adventure with Tora. Sakura couldn't help but reminisce. Yes, it was good thing to bring the genin along, but she was beginning to miss Naruto now. Hopefully he'd be back soon.

* * *

As Jiraiya and Naruto went further into the village, Naruto couldn't contain his energy any longer. Stopping in front of a telephone pole, he dropped his bag on the ground. Gathering chakra in his feet almost subconsciously, the orange and black clad man was up the pole in an instant.

At the site of his pupil, Jiraiya had to chuckle, "Getting excited already I see."

Once he got to the top of the pole, Naruto stretched. He was home. The boy looked around the small metropolis. Everything looked almost exactly as he had left it. "This brings back memories; this place hasn't changed at all! Everyone Naruto Uzumaki has returned!" he yelled to the whole of Konoha, but to himself he added, _but with a big surprise_.

"Everything here is so nostalgic," he thought aloud. With a quick survey of the Hokage monument, he quickly saw Tsunade's face and had a quick laugh. "They added Baa-chan to the mountain."

Suddenly from down the street, four figures began to approach. After seeing the smiles on the chunin guards' faces combined with the hints the two dropped, Sakura, Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi had a feeling that Naruto was back. They had to go check and there he was on top of a telephone pole.

"Is it true?" Sakura asked. She hoped this wasn't just some elaborate prank. Her friend and teammate had to be back.

"It is!" Konohamaru replied happily.

"Naruto?" Sakura called out to the orange clad. It felt good to call his name again. She didn't know why, it just did, so she said it again. "Naruto, is that you?"

The boy on the pole heard his name being called by someone other than his sensei. The voice was nice and soothing. Turning around he saw a young woman next to his sensei—Sakura. Even from his position on the pole, he could still see just how beautiful she was. Since it probably wasn't the best idea to have a conversation from the top of a pole, Naruto hopped off to get a better look. While in free fall, Sakura asked when he had returned, and right before he hit the ground, he said they had just returned.

"It's been a while, Sakura-chan," Naruto said, now that they were up close.

It had been a while. The two friends smiled at each other while noticing the changes that had happened. The both made remarks to themselves about how the other was more beautiful or handsome. The change in clothes was another topic of interest for their eyes.

Soon Sakura felt that something was off as she took in Naruto. There was something different and she had to look up to see his eyes. Then it hit her; Naruto was taller then her.

"You're taller than me now, aren't you?"

Naruto brought his hand up to his head and mock measured his height.

"You're right," he answered, a goofy grin on his face.

_It seems you've grown pretty strong in the time I haven't seen you, _thought Sakura as she secretly admired his changes. His chakra signature seemed powerful and comforting and his hair was even longer and messier, but she liked it. His shoulders were broader, and even through the jumpsuit she could tell that his muscles were more developed. Naruto was becoming manly.

"What do you think? I'm more womanly now?" Sakura asked. She couldn't figure out why she asked that and she blushed at her own question.

Naruto panicked. _How am I supposed to answer that? I still have to worry about my cover too. What do I do? Why'd she have to ask that of all things._

"It's fine, you haven't changed at all."

Now, why did he have to say that? That couldn't have been the right thing to say. It was definitely something he would've said a couple of years ago, but couldn't he have said something that wouldn't include having to deal with Sakura's wrath?

Sakura, clearly getting the wrong message, was upset and turned away from the boy. Jiraiya almost let a smirk slip at Naruto's comment. _Good job Naruto, playing the part of the fool, but couldn't you have handled that better?_ Playing along with Naruto's lead, Jiraiya shook his head in disappointment. "You don't understand a woman's heart at all."

Konohamaru, after watching Naruto and Sakura talk, decided it was his turn to make his presence known. Naruto had been gone for two years, it was time to stir up a little trouble. He called Naruto's name before gathering and releasing his chakra.

Naruto turned around to see Konohamaru use the Oiroke no Jutsu. Jiraiya instantly started bleeding from his nose at the site of a naked, busty brunette. Sakura had the opposite reaction. A look of horror crossed her face followed by a searing anger. Naruto, strangely enough, had the most calm reaction. He chuckled at the young boy's antics.

"How was that?" the boy asked. "It had some real "oomph" to it, right?

Naruto grinned at the boy, "Konohamaru. I'm not a kid anymore. So you shouldn't use techniques like that either."

Konohamaru was a little ashamed. Naruto was right. They were both shinobi now. Sakura was dumbfounded at what she was hearing. _I see so he didn't grow just physically._ She was starting to like this new Naruto and the more she thought about the more she started to blush. _It's a bit sad, but you've grown up a bit, Naruto. Knowing you, you probably came back with some impressive techniques too._

Naruto felt bad. It looked like he had hurt the feelings of the closest thing he had to a little brother. He decided that he was going to make it up to him. "Don't worry Konohamaru. I'll show you a more powerful technique later. The middle of the street isn't really the best place to demonstrate."

"Yeah kid," Jiraiya added to help Naruto excite Konohamaru and stop the baka from blowing his cover, "You should listen to the kid after two years the boy was able to improve in every aspect of ninjutsu." The old man even added a lecherous grin and wink to make his comment seem more suggestive.

Sakura noticed the sannin, but continued on her train of thought. _That's right, an even more powerful jutsu._ Naruto looked at his his sensei. What was he implying? "Yeah, I'll teach—"

Before he could even finish his sentence Sakura had woken up from her admiration induced haze and punched Naruto in the face. The poor orange clad ninja was buried three feet in the dirt after being launched down the street. Sakura in a fit of rage stomped over to the crater Naruto was buried in. She brutally began shaking him like a rag doll, yelling at the unfortunate boy.

"You baka!"

The three poor genin, having witnessed Sakura attack Naruto, clung onto the Gama Sennin in fear. The pink haired kunoichi was on a war path. City-goers just enjoying their day quickly removed themselves from the area. Some inched along the walls trying to make themselves invisible to the girl. The wrath of a woman is something everyone should fear, and Sakura was only getting started.

"On the inside you haven't grown at all. How dare you offer to teach that boy a more powerful perverted ninjutsu. Don't make me beat you senseless after two minutes when I haven't seen you in two years. What about my sparkling admiration of you?"

Naruto could barely think of anything besides the pain he was feeling, but a few random thoughts slipped through. _What did she punch me for? That's not what I meant. Wait, she admires me?_

Jiraiya was amazed by the strength of the petite woman. _With that strength and that temper it's almost like a second Tsunade. Poor Naruto, he has to act like a baka and deal with those beatings. _Jiraiya wanted to shiver at the thought, but, out of pure fear, his body wouldn't let him.

"Sakura-chan's temper hasn't changed at all," Naruto accidentally let slip, "actually I think she's become more violent than before."

"Huh? Did you say something?" Sakura asked, ready to kill him if he answered wrong.

Naruto decided it was best to act unconscious.

* * *

The Hokage Tower is located at the heart of Konoha. More of a sphere than an actual tower, the building serves as more than just an office for the Hokage. This building is where the village councils meet to make decisions that affect the village outside of the military. The first house of the legislation is the shinobi council. It is smaller in comparison to its companion house. Only a few retired shinobi elders are comprised of this group, their main duty is to act as mediators and advisers. In emergency situations, the elders can have the ability to take control of the Hokage's affairs. The next council is the civilian. Though some shinobi are on the council, the house is compromised of clan heads that have major interest to the village. This house can be compared to major stock holders of a company. Since the stock holders own a portion of the company, they can make decisions. There are different conditions that must be to gain a seat, but if the conditions are met, the clan has the seat forever, even if the clan dies out. This recognizes the contribution of the family to be remembered throughout history.

In this system the Hokage serves as an executive officer. The Hokage has control of the military and reviews bills created by the legislative branch. Even though the Hokage can veto bills, with the support of the shinobi council and an extra-majority in the civilian council, the legislation may override the veto. The Hokage, being a military leader, has access to privileged information. With this in mind and the Hokage's complete control over the villages shinobi, the Hokage is granted with the ability to make secret decisions without informing the councils as long as the decision does not cause malicious harm to the village. This is the premise behind the ANBU. The Black Ops allow for a place where missions, with or without knowledge from the council may be buried. With the power of such an elite group, the ANBU would seem like a way for a Hokage to cause a coup de état and gain complete control, but the village council, with support from the Fire Daimyo can strip the Hokage from their rank. This creates an uneasy trust between the leaders of Konohagakure no Sato.

As Naruto entered the office, he knew Tsunade would have to exercise some of her power. In two and half years he had changed.

"Long time no see, you two," the Godaime Hokage said as Naruto, Sakura and Jiraiya entered to room and stood in front of the Godaime's desk. "I take it that the training had some results?"

Jiraiya seemed appalled at the question. "Did you think we would come back with no results?"

If she only knew the whole story, she'd give Naruto a two rank promotion on the spot.

"I did great," Naruto clarified.

Tsunade leaned forward onto her desk as she eyed the young man in front of her. He was much taller from the last time she'd seen him. Hopefully his skill grew as much as his body. "Well then, let's see those results."

"See them?" Naruto asked. He thought Tsunade already knew the results of him training. Jiraiya would periodically send messenger pigeons back to the Hokage on his status. This isn't what he was expecting.

"I'd like you to fight against a certain someone. I haven't given him any missions in the past few days so that he could rest up," Tsunade answered. "Your opponent is—"

She didn't get to finish her sentence because of a knock on her door. After a curt, "enter," from the Hokage the door opened to reveal chunin with a pony tail. He was wearing a standard flak jacket over a mesh shirt and he had his headband tied to his left arm. Behind him was a girl with blond hair. She was a ninja from Suna and she was wearing a long purple dress. She also had a large fan strapped to her back.

Sakura quickly had their attention has she called their names and pointed at Naruto. "Who do you think it is?"

Shikamaru looked at blond ninja. He was wearing an orange jumpsuit, had blond hair and blue eyes. He was just so tall, but it had to be Naruto. "Naruto? Hey, if it isn't Naruto"

Temari was surprised. This was that same shrimp from the Chunin Exams?

"So you came back?" Shikamaru continued.

"Yeah, I just got back this morning," Naruto grinned.

"You don't look like such a baka anymore, or how should I say it? You've changed."

Naruto smiled at his friend. Someone was finally complementing him. Naruto wished he could see the face on his genius friend if he could tell him the whole story. He might not have been the brightest shinobi, but he believed he was a force to be reckoned with now.

Too bad Sakura had to ruin his pride, "Nope he hasn't changed at all."

"Just as I thought," Shikamaru chuckled. Naruto was hurt a little. Was it really that hard to believe that he had changed over the past two years?

"Sakura-chan," Naruto whined before perking back up. He turned back to Tsunade. "Is Shikamaru supposed to be my opponent?"

"Opponent? What are you talking about?" Shikamaru asked, clearly unaware of what was going on. "I just came here to pick up some documents."

"So if it's not Shikamaru, then who is it?" Naruto asked aloud.

"Naruto," Tsunade called. "Those two aren't your opponents. He's over there."

The fifth pointed outside her window. There wasn't a balcony, but there was a ledge. Naruto stuck his head out and looked around. As assured, Kakashi Hatake was sitting on the roof reading one of his books.

"Hey, you've gotten big, Naruto," his old sensei said. Kakashi also gave a little wave for good measure.

Climbing out of the window, Naruto crouched down by his old sensei. "Kakashi-sensei, you haven't changed at all."

It was true. In the two and a half years Naruto had been gone, Kakashi had done little to change his appearance. He still wore the mask that covered his face, and his forehead protector still covered his eye. If Kakashi had changed, the differences were much more subtle.

Suddenly Naruto remembered something. "Look here Sensei," Naruto said as he reached into his backpack. After fumbling around with the contents, Naruto found what he was looking for. "I have a present for you." Kakashi was intrigued. He didn't know what he did to receive such a gift, besides what kind of gift would Naruto give.

"Nani?" Kakashi yelled in surprise when he saw the gift. "Y-you...t-t-this is," Kakashi stuttered. It was impossible. How did Naruto get his hands on that book?

"You see, this is the first new _Make-out Paradise_ in three years!" Naruto explained. "It's really boring, but you like it, don't you sensei?

Jiraiya snorted at that comment. _The baka, like a gaki like him would be able to understand just how interesting it is, and that one hasn't even been put into circulation yet. It took me forever to get all the research for that story done. The gaki doesn't know just how much time I wasted on his training instead of that book._ Jiraiya decided that his revenge would be even sweeter if that boy didn't start respecting him soon.

Looking at the book, Kakashi carefully took into his hands. In a manner similar to an archeologist finding a very precious artifact, Kakashi slowly opened the book. It was real. Flipping to the first page, the one-eyed man began reading, but he was ruefully interrupted.

"Stop goofing off now, Kakashi!" the Hokage ordered, from her position in the window.

Giving an inaudible sigh, Kakashi closed the book and headed towards the office. Naruto finally realized that Kakashi was going to be his opponent. How ironic, earlier today he was talking about how everything was so nostalgic and now he had to fight his sensei, just like he did when he became a ninja. At least Kakashi would provide him with a good challenge.

"So, my opponent is supposed to be—" Naruto didn't get to finish because Kakashi made a correction to Naruto's conclusion.

"That's not quite true either," the silver haired man said smiling under his mask. "It's been a while since I've last seen you Sakura."

"Hai, Kakashi-sensei," the Godaime's apprentice said. Sakura then moved away from the window to let Kakashi and Naruto back inside.

Once Naruto and Kakashi were both situated in the office Kakashi began speaking again. "I'm going to fight against Naruto and Sakura," he explained pointing at the two teenagers, when he said their name, respectively.

Jiraiya smirked when heard the scenario. _If Naruto could use his full abilities not even your Sharingan eye would be able to keep up._

"The two of you together," Kakashi finished. The man received a gasp from his two students. They both looked surprised, but on Naruto's face there was a small amount of confusion. Without showing it, Kakashi wondered why. He thought Naruto would be excited to fight him again after his training his trip. This was unexpected. Shrugging the thoughts off, the jonin decided he would receive an answer sooner or later, there was no need to push for it now.

"Kakashi-sensei is _our_ opponent." Naruto almost yelled. _This is bad. If it was just Kakashi and I it wouldn't be a problem, but with Sakura-chan there..._

"Just how for can you go with Kakashi as your opponent," the Godaime said, breaking Naruto and Sakura out of their surprise induced trance.

Jiraiya continued to praise himself. _Farther than you could image Tsunade_. A small smirk formed on the old man's lips. His student had become quite powerful over the past couple of years. With the amount of chakra the boy possessed, Naruto was one of his best students.

Naruto looked to his sensei. He hoped he would find some kind of clue as to what was going on. It was quite clear at this point that Jiraiya had left out some _very _important details. Seeing the smirk on the Gama Sennin, Naruto knew that this was the case and that this whole situation was becoming—he didn't want to think it with Shikamaru still in the room—troublesome. Naruto decided that he would just have to hold back.

"I'll decide what to do with you depending on the results," the Godaime said, done speaking, but by that time, Naruto wasn't paying attention anymore.

"What to do with them, huh," Shikamaru thought aloud. Technically Naruto was still a genin. Shikamaru wondered if Naruto even remembered that fact. He hadn't even seen the blond a full day yet and Shikamaru knew that Naruto was going to be just as troublesome as the day he left.

The Hokage then turned to her apprentice. "Sakura it's not like you've been wasting your time while working under me."

"Right," Sakura answered.

Kakashi took a step into the center of the room drawing everyone's attention. "So, should we get started now?" he asked, but before anyone could answer, he continued further. "At least, that is what I would like to say. Naruto is probably tired after just getting back. I'll give you a while to rest up."

Naruto at this point wasn't really that tired, and considering that he would have to hold back when they fought; it didn't matter when they started. It was probably best to get this over with as soon as possible. He told his old sensei that he was ready, with as much enthusiasm he could muster, even if he did end up over doing it.

"I'll meet you at training ground three," Kakashi replied, happy to see Naruto's excitement, but Kakashi couldn't help but feel that something was off with Naruto. Giving everyone in the room a mock salute with his index and middle fingers, the one eyed man used the Konoha-Shunshin to disappear, likely heading towards the training ground.

* * *

(For those that need it)

**Glossary:**

Konohagakure no Sato- The Village Hidden in the Leaves

Sandaime**- **Third

Nanadaime- Seventh

Rokudaime- Sixth

Godaime- Fifth

Hi no Kuni- Land of Fire

Gama Sennin- Toad Hermit(Sage)

Hime- Princess

Obaa-san- Grandmother, Naruto uses Baa-chan as a nickname to affectionately refer to Tsunade as his grandmother.

Baka- Idiot/Fool

Ero-Sennin- Perverted Hermit

Oiroke no Jutsu- Sexy Jutsu, Developed by Naruto, the Oiroke no Jutsu is a henge where the user changes into the form of a naked woman. The technique is quite effective against certain perverts. The Sandaime Hokage even remarked that the justu could've worked against him.

Gaki- Brat

Nani- What

Konoha-Shunshin- Leaf Body Flicker, a division of the normal shunshin, the user instead of using smoke to conceal their movements uses leaves. The shunshin is a teleportation technique that uses chakra to augment the users speed faster that the human eye once in motion. This is why leaves or smoke are used to conceal the movements of the user, but other mediums can be used, such as water (Mizu-Shunshin) or sand (Suna-Shunshin).

**Authors Note: **Like always, please inform me of any mistakes.

**Updated:** 1/5/11


	3. Chapter 2: Revealed

Chapter Two: Revealed

**The sun had set.** Night was once again upon the village of Konohagakure no Sato.

Naruto and Sakura were successful in their battle against Kakashi that evening. The fight seemed straightforward enough. Naruto used his bunshins, while Sakura used her excellent chakra control to destroy the training ground. Being an experienced jonin, Kakashi easily evaded all of the traps and attacks that were set for him, only losing because of a clever bluff from his old students. Straightforward, but a ninja must always look beneath the underneath.

Something was odd. The day had been filled of excitement and joy, but the night was eerie in its silence. Ninja are familiar with the quiet night. Under the gaze of a full moon, assassinations occur without a noise and secret meetings occur without any proof of existence. It is in the shadow of the day that some of the greatest hunters lurk. There had been peace for too long. An inaudible echo filled the village with a message. To many shinobi and villagers alike, dusk ushered another period of peace, but to a few, the hidden message forewarned of change.

The Gama Sennin could feel the night's omen. That inking suspicion of being watched crawled up his spine. He didn't like it. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that Naruto was connected to it. Every step he took closer to the Hokage's office spelled a sense of struggle. Now was not the time to let his fear unease him. Troubling times were ahead, now was the time to minimize the damage.

He began thinking back to his students performance that evening. _Naruto, what am I going to do with you. You did well to hide your strength, but Kakashi is an excellent ninja. I would be disappointed if he believed that act._ Jiraiya was unsettled by this, but Kakashi understood his place. The sannin allowed himself to relax; Kakashi could be trusted with the most deadly of secrets.

With the Hokage Tower looming above him, Jiraiya slipped into the building. Tonight was not a night for games, well at least not for surprising Tsunade through the window. The Gama Sennin fell deeply back into thought as he navigated through the tiny halls. A few heads were turned by the sight of the Sannin in his typical thinking pose—his right hand cupping his chin. Lost in his consciousness, the white haired man didn't notice Kakashi walking out of a mission report filing room. The two accidentally ran into each other.

Shaken out of his mindset, Jiraiya muttered an apology. The silver haired ninja shrugged it off, saying an apology as well and turned to leave. Deciding that now was better than later to fully explain the situation, the Sannin called to the jonin.

"Kakashi, if you would please come with me; I have something to discuss with Hime and I would like for you to be there as well."

Knowing that he'd get his answers, the man with a single Sharingan followed the Gama Sennin to the Hokage's office. The Hokage's secretary had left for the night so the two shinobi went straight the Hokage's door. Jiraiya lightly tapped the oak door. A slightly slurred "enter" was heard and the two let themselves in to office.

Tsunade had a saké dish on her desk, but Jiraiya had a suspicion that she was neglecting to use it. More than likely, Jiraiya's fellow sannin was going ahead and drinking straight from the bottle in her hand. Jiraiya sighed. Out of all the times for Tsunade to be drunk, now was one of the worst.

"You better not be drunk Hime. We have much to discuss," Jiraiya stated as he walked to the center of the office.

The Godaime's office was a relatively empty space. With the ability to hold at least forty people, the room seemed extremely bare. Shelves were lined along the sides of the room and there were a few chairs located around the room. Most people were expected to stand in front of the Hokage as of respect, but every now and then chairs were need for others of equal status. The most captivating parts of the room were the photos of the Hokages. Lined in numerical order, Jiraiya found himself caught in the gaze of the Yondaime. The elder man smiled at the photo. How much trouble would his pupil's death cause?

The past was over and the Godaime brought Jiraiya back to the present.

"I'm fine," the blond woman slurred. "I can hold my liquor better than you anyways, Gama."

Jiraiya sighed again. The Hokage was loose, but thankfully, she wasn't drunk.

"We need to talk," the male sannin said.

Gaining some composure, Tsunade did as suggested and looked Jiraiya straight in the eyes. "Is this about the bell test? From what I've seen, you're right he's improved. He's probably a chunin."

The Gama Sennin snorted at the comment about Naruto, causing the Hokage to narrow her eyes at the older man.

"What's so funny?" she asked with an angry tone. She was not about to be mocked.

"I'm just surprised you didn't notice it," the Godaime was confused by what her fellow sannin implied.

"Did you notice it Kakashi?" the man continued.

The one eyed man nodded at Jiraiya. Having fought against Naruto, he could tell that something was off. Naruto would pull some of his punches and leave his clones completely open for attacks. To any on looker, these mistakes seemed negligible, and the whole battle looked hard fought, but to an experienced shinobi as himself, he could tell that Naruto was not trying to the best of his ability.

"Hime," Jiraiya said, taking his cue from Kakashi, "Naruto was holding back."

"Nani?" the surprised Hokage asked. There was no way, she would've noticed such an attempt by the boy.

"It's true." Jiraiya smirked. "Before I continue though, I believe it would be best if we kept this conversation private." Tsunade nodded. The Godaime signaled her ANBU guards with a chakra spike, alerting them to leave and seal the room. With that task accomplished the Hokage wordlessly signaled Jiraiya to continue.

"Naruto is easily the level of a jonin. I'd guess he's pushing kage level."

Both Kakashi and Tsunade were surprised by that. It was almost impossible to go from the level of a genin to kage in two and a half years. Even true geniuses struggled with that pace. Naruto may have been a dedicated worker that would never quit, and no one doubted that he would become a fine shinobi—worthy of the title of Hokage. It was just too soon.

"How?" Tsunade demanded. Now was not the time for Jiraiya's games.

"Kage Bunshin," the Gama Sennin answered mirthfully.

Kakashi almost jumped off the wall when he heard Jiraiya. That was ingenious, if not incredibly risky. For an average user, chakra exhaustion could kill the person, but with Naruto easily able to create a hundred clones, the time that a certain training needed could be fractionated.

"What all does he know?" Kakashi asked. He was curious as to how far his old student had come on his trip.

Jiraiya slyly grinned at the jonin, "With ninjutsu as his forté, Naruto has learned nature manipulation. Therefore he can cast a at least a few of the five elements. With his ability to summon, Naruto has also been working with the toads to create collaboration jutsu. Naruto has also begun to learn more advanced Fūinjutsu. He's no where near my level, but Fūinjutsu presented a unique opportunity for Naruto."

"What opportunity?" Tsunade questioned, her tone expressing a slight annoyance. The man shows up at her office at this time of night, claiming he has something important to talk to her about, and then he's purposefully vague. Tsunade, one of the Densetsu no Sannin, wasn't going to stand for such nonsense, but Jiraiya still wasn't done with his gimmick.

"I think it'll be better to demonstrate," the old man smiled. After biting his right thumb, Jiraiya utilized the blood from the cut to summon a little toad. The summon had red-orange skin, and, on his cheeks, right below his eyes, there were two lines that met right below his chin. On his back, there was a pack to carry messages that was secured by a rope around the creatures belly.

"What do you need Ero-sennin?" the little thing asked.

Jiraiya gave an annoyed, angry look at the toad while Tsunade burst into full out laughter—Kakashi had the decency to smile under his mask and keep quite.

Crouching down, Jiraiya stared at the little toad. The creature didn't become intimidated, which prompted Jiraiya to sigh. "You've been seeing Naruto too much Gamatichi."

The little toad smiled at the sannin, but quickly changed his tune when Jiraiya ordered him to go find Naruto. "Why do I have to go?" Gamatichi whined.

"Because you're a messenger toad now," Jiraiya explained. The little creature sighed, excepting his fate. "Now, when you find Naruto tell him come to the Hokage's office by using _that _justu. I'll have everything set up by then."

The little toad looked questionably at the Gama Sennin. What was that supposed to mean? After delivering the message he wanted to send, Jiraiya stood back up and opened the window for the toad. Jiraiya cocked his head to the side, ushering the toad to go. Gamatichi did just that.

Tsunade leaned back in her chair. It would take time for that gama to find Naruto in Konoha. "Okay Jiraiya, talk; tell us everything," she said. If Jiraiya was going to play games, he could at least give some more explanation as to what the hell was going on.

"Very well," the sannin said, taking a seat in one of the chairs against the wall.

"Knowing Orochimaru, he would train Sasuke very rapidly to prepare the boy as his new vessel. Sasuke, being a genius and having access to the Sharingan, would, without a doubt, become very powerful. If Naruto continued at the rate of growth before our trip, he would've been no match for Sasuke. Therefore, I had to result to such drastic measures. Naruto took very well to the physical training, but I had to force the boy to study at first."

"You were able to get Naruto to study?" the Hokage laughed, "I don't believe it."

"In time, the boy found an aptitude to study as well," the sannin continued to explain. "He would even study while I went out to scout the area."

Tsunade snorted at the last comment. "Scouting, like I'm supposed to believe that?"

"No one asked you Hime!" Jiraiya yelled. After calming himself down, the Gama Sennin continued, "All in all, Naruto has taken most of his parents better qualities."

That caught Kakashi's attention. "You know Naruto's parents?" he asked.

"Jiraiya, we shouldn't discuss that," the Hokage scolded.

"You knew too?" a surprised Kakashi asked. Naruto was an orphan. What orphan wouldn't want to know who his father and mother were? How could they keep such a secret from the boy? It was unfair.

"It doesn't matter Tsunade. Naruto knows," the Gama Sennin admitted.

"You told him?" The Hokage yelled.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because as his godfather, I couldn't watch him suffer anymore. He had become strong enough after the first year to protect himself. He deserved to know. At first, he went into a fit of rage after I told him. He almost lost control; fortunately, I was able to suppress the Kyūbi no Yoko before any real damage was caused. It was cruel to keep that information away from him. He should be furious with all of us, but that boy has one of the purest souls. He's forgiven all off us for our foolishness and he even understands our reasons."

Tsunade was ashamed. Jiraiya was right. They had no right to keep that information from Naruto. Only three people new of the boy's lineage. Now one of them—the Sandaime—was dead. How much longer could Jiraiya and she look the boy in the eye and not tell him anything?

Kakashi was still quite confused at what was going on. More pieces had been added to the puzzle and some were starting to come together, but the complete picture still eluded him.

"That's in the past though," Jiraiya said, his somber tone quickly disappearing. That sadness and regret was being filled with hope. "We need think about tomorrow instead."

Kakashi did not like being left out of the loop. Until the part of Naruto's parents were mentioned, he had been able to fully follow along with the conversation. Everything about the two sannins' conversation was esoteric. Why did Jiraiya bring him along if he was going to be left out? So the silver haired jonin decided to fix that.

"Excuse me, Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya-sama; who were Naruto's parents?"

Jiraiya looked to Tsunade for approval. She gave it to him with a nod of her head; still, she didn't think it was her right to do so.

"Naruto's mother was Kushina Uzumaki. She was a refugee from Uzu no Kuni that immigrated to Konoha during the war. As for Naruto's father—"

Jiraiya stood up from his chair and moved to the center of the room. The Gama Sennin reached into his robe's inner pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. The older man placed the paper on the ground and backed away from piece of stationary. Kakashi's single eye went wide at the sight of the seal painted on it.

"But t-that's—" the one eyed jonin managed to say before getting cut off by Jiraiya.

"Precisely."

"I never knew."

"You were only about fourteen back then," Jiraiya explained. "It was meant to be a secret, but as you guessed, Naruto's father was the Yondaime Hokage."

* * *

Konohagakure no Sato has the benefit of being located in a sub-tropical region. Many warm and humid days are followed by pleasantly cool nights. This causes many people to go out and enjoy themselves in the after twilight hours. Bar and restaurants make sure to keep their lights on to attract any hungry or thirsty patrons, but not even sight can stand up to smell when dealing with a person's pallet. For a blond haired shinobi, cursed to be the jailer of the Kyūbi no Yoko, but benefited with enhanced senses, the smell of Ichiraku Ramen was heavenly.

Having _sniffed_ out the little ramen bar, Naruto was about to enter when a large toad tackled him by jumping on to the blond's face. Due to the momentum, Naruto was knocked onto his back. Sitting up, he gingerly pulled the toad off of his face. The red-orange toad only laughed—along with any passing villagers—due to the little red marks that had formed from the toads grip on the blond's tan skin. Naruto narrowed his eye's angrily at the creature, causing it to only laugh harder.

"What do you want Gamatichi?" Naruto growled. Most of the time, Naruto enjoyed the toad's pranks; the toad reminded the blond of himself, but to disturb him now—right as he was about to get ramen—was completely uncalled for.

"Scratch that," Naruto quickly added. "How'd you get here anyways?"

"Naruto," Gamatichi chuckled, still teary eyed from laughing so hard. Taking a deep breath, the toad composed himself. "Ero-sennin summoned me to tell you to meet him in the Hokage's office, but to use _that_ jutsu to get there. I don't understand what that means. What's going on?"

Naruto sighed. "I know exactly what it means, you can return to Mount Myōboku."

"C'mon tell me. What's the secret?" Gamatichi pleaded again.

"I'm sorry. I can't tell you yet. Besides, it's supposed to be a secret. If I told you I wouldn't be keeping it a secret would I?"

The toad seemed to except that answer. Nodding to Naruto, the toad used the Gyaku Kuchiyose no Jutsu and returned to its home leaving behind a plume of white smoke. Now that the toad was gone, Naruto picked himself up off the ground. He brushed off some of the dirt off his jumpsuit before looking back at Ichiraku. Naruto wondered what Jiraiya wanted. It must have been important, if it meant the risk of exposing himself.

Before Naruto could turn to leave, an arm snaked around his back. Surprised, Naruto immediately looked around to find the arm's owner. Iruka Umino was standing next to the blond. Naruto's old sensei was smiling, obviously happy to see the teenager after his two and a half year trip.

"I thought I'd find you here," Iruka smiled. Letting go of Naruto, the older shinobi walked towards the bar. "Well let's go in, my treat."

Naruto scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Sorry Iruka-sensei, but I have to go. Maybe some other time?"

Iruka was a little saddened, but more importantly, he was confused. "I understand, but it's not like you to turn down free ramen."

"I know, I'll see you later sensei."

Naruto turned around and took off down the street all the while silently cursing Jiraiya. Why the hell did Jiraiya want to see him, especially now of all times? He was about to get treated to ramen. Damn it. Jiraiya had better have a good excuse.

Sakura Haruno was enjoying her night. In fact, she was treating herself. After working under Tsunade for the past two years, she was able to get a bell from Kakashi, with Naruto's help of course. Still, that was quite an accomplishment for a chunin. Finishing up her bowl of anmitsu, the pink haired girl noticed Naruto running past her. _Strange_, she decided, _I thought he would be at Ichiraku_. Since she decided that what he was doing wasn't important, she raised her bowl in the air, yelling out that she wanted a second helping.

Naruto continued to run down the crowded streets looking for a secluded area. It was too damn busy tonight. Turning around a corner, Naruto smiled at his good fortune. Halfway down the block was a tiny ally that contained a huge blind-spot. Running down the tiny space, Naruto spiked his chakra, letting it flow out of his body with a practiced ease that didn't even require the use of hand seals; he disappeared. If anyone had been lucky enough to look down the ally, what they would've seen seemed impossible. Most would've dismissed it as a figment of their imagination, but some would've found the justu that the boy used oddly familiar to a justu used by a hero during the Daisanji Ninkai Taisen. Even then, those few would've dismissed the notion. It was just too impossible, right?

* * *

Jiraiya backed away from the seal he placed on the floor. It was almost time for Naruto to receive his message. The Gama Sennin leaned on a bookshelf in the office. The only thing that the three in the room could do now was wait. The rooms occupants continued to stare at the seal placed in the center of the room. Tsunade and Kakashi wondered if this was some sort of trick by Jiraiya. Sure, Naruto was the son of the Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō, but surely Naruto hadn't learned a jutsu that powerful?

"Naruto should be here soon," Jiraiya commented.

"Define soon," Tsunade remarked, taking a large swig of her saké; the action caused her to look away from the seal.

"Now," Jiraiya merrily replied.

"Nan—" Tsunade started to say as she noticed the blond shinobi standing in front of her desk.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked as he looked around the room. He first saw a surprised, maybe drunk Tsunade with a bottle of saké still in her mouth. He then noticed Kakashi who looked just as astounded as Tsunade. Turning around, he saw his newest sensei as smug as he could be leaning against a book shelf. Deciding that Jiraiya had set all of this up, Naruto questioned him, "What's so important that you would pull me away from Iruka-sensei, especially since he was about to treat me to ramen, not to mention authorizing my use of the Hiraishin?"

"Gaki," answered Jiraiya, growing serious once again. "I decided that now was the best time to show Kakashi and Tsunade your true strength."

"Couldn't you have just told them Ero-sennin?" an irritated Naruto replied.

"I am the Legendary Gama Sennin Jiraiya! Don't question my actions Gaki!"

"Hai, hai, whatever you say," the blond dismissed, serving to only further enrage Jiraiya. The white haired sannin was about to chew out his pupil, but Tsunade had heard enough from two bickering shinobi.

"Enough," ordered the Hokage. "Both of you need to offer me an explanation now!"

"Why me?" Naruto half-whined.

"You just demonstrated use of an S-rank Jikūkan Ninjutsu. What the hell are you two thinking? Did either of you consider how I'm supposed to respond to this?"

Kakashi smiled behind his mask. This was becoming very entertaining. At first he was surprised that his sensei even had a son. Now, the legacy of the Yondaime had just demonstrated the use of the Hiraishin no Jutsu, one of the most powerful jutsu ever created, and was then shocked to silence by the ferocity of the Godaime. _Minato-sensei, your son has become a fine shinobi. I just wished I had noticed sooner. He's just like Obito. You'd be proud._ Kakashi just continued on his musings as Jiraiya tried to end the Godaime's ranting.

"Hime, I have a plan."

Tsunade stared at her fellow sannin. "Well Jiraiya, let's hear it."

"Tsunade," he began, "I want you to register Naruto and an ANBU."

"Nani?" Tsunade answered with surprise. Kakashi was even ruffled by the Gama Sennin's comment. What could Jiraiya be thinking? This meeting wasn't supposed to be some huge joke. ANBU have to deal with the darkest parts of the ninja world. They were the elite; Naruto seemed to fit the bill in terms of strength, but Tsunade couldn't help but think of Naruto as a son. She wouldn't condemn the boy to the life of an ANBU; he was only fifteen.

"That's foolish," Tsunade decided, much to the relief of Kakashi.

"Here me out," Jiraiya pleaded.

Tsunade didn't say anything, but the Gama Sennin knew she would listen. Knowing that didn't change the sickening feeling he was getting from her stare though.

"I'm not asking you to completely integrate Naruto."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at this. What was that old gama thinking?

"We have a nukenin on our hands. I think it would be best to take a page from Kirigakure's bingo book and make Naruto an oinin."

Tsunade softened a little bit at Jiraiya's plan. He was smarter than he looked, but the Hokage still had her doubts. "So you want Naruto to track down Sasuke?"

Naruto and Kakashi both stiffened at the Hokage's question, but didn't offer any other reactions.

"Precisely," Jiraiya smirked, Tsunade was catching on. "Sasuke has no doubt become a powerful shinobi. That alone would make it difficult to return him to Konoha, but Sasuke also has the benefit of the Sharingan. The only person fast enough to counter the power of that specific Kekkei Genkai is Naruto. Unfortunately, Naruto needs to use the Hiraishin. Normally that wouldn't be a problem, but currently the political climate is unstable. Naruto's identity was kept a secret for a reason, that is why Naruto needs to be an ANBU. The councils can't interfere with the ANBU, nor would they want to for political reasons."

The Hokage nodded. Jiraiya's plan made sense. It wasn't without flaws, but it was the most viable option considering the alternatives. There was political instability within Konoha, and the tensions between the Shinobi Godaikoku weren't much better. Tsunade was within a rock and a hard place.

"Very well," the Hokage had made up her mind. "Kakashi, Jiraiya, please leave."

The two did as they were told. If Kakashi could place what he was feeling, he'd probably say lucky. He just heard classified information. The one-eyed jonin felt a bit of pride as well. One of his students had become a very powerful shinobi and was more than likely about to be promoted. Well, that was that. It was time to get back to his new book.

"Naruto!" the Hokage called.

"Hai, Obaa-chan."

Naruto nearly dodged the bottle of saké thrown at him; he decided it would probably be best to show respect now.

"I mean Tsunade-sama."

The Hokage smiled contently at the boy's answer. "Congratulations Naruto, you're getting promoted. Normally for you to be promoted you would have to recognized by the shinobi council as competent shinobi concluding the Chunin Exams and the Jonin Exams, but this is a sensitive situation. I'm going to bypass the councils and will have you submitted into the ANBU, if you accept your position. As I'm sure you know, the ANBU operate directly under the orders of the Hokage. Neither the Shinobi nor Civilian council's have authority. It is under this given jurisdiction that I am able to promote you. Understood?"

Naruto nodded his head. The politics were a little confusing, but that never stopped him before. Why would it now?

"Now do you accept your promotion to ANBU Naruto...what am I supposed to say for your surname?" Tsunade wasn't sure how Naruto wanted for his surname. Did he want Uzumaki or Namikaze? He was of course a Namikaze, traditionally the father's name was passed down, but Naruto had been called Uzumaki his entire life. Tsunade didn't know what he wanted, so she asked him.

"Can't I just have both?" he replied.

The idea seemed overly simplistic, but that was Naruto for you. She played around with the names in her head. They fit together pretty well either way you put them. Still, she decided that Uzumaki-Namikaze rolled off the tongue slightly easier.

"Alright, do you accept your promotion to ANBU Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze?"

"Hai," Naruto answered nonchalantly, but on the inside he was ready to explode with excitement. He had gone from being a genin to and ANBU in a single day.

"Do you, as an agent of ANBU, swear loyalty to Konohagakure no Sato and the Hokage?"

"Hai," Naruto curtly responded. His excitement faded a little as he was being sworn in.

"Will you follow all orders given to you by your Hokage and protect your village, even at the cost of your life?"

"Hai," the shinobi responded, but Naruto still felt that it was pointless of Tsunade to ask. He would've done that regardless of whether he swore to or not, but I guess there was no point arguing with regulation.

"Very well," Tsunade said. She leaned onto her desk and stared down the new ANBU. "Naruto you will be a captain. This will give you the authority to not be questioned in the chance that you should encounter other ANBU. In the event of an emergency, you will also have the ability to command any ANBU of lesser rank. Your first assignment will be the tracking and eventual capture of Sasuke Uchiha. You will be undercover with Team Kakashi, showing minimal strength until you can engage the nukenin without blowing your cover. Understood?"

"Hai Tsunade-sama."

"Good," the Hokage said standing up. She walked over to her bookshelf, before turning back to look at Naruto. "It is now time for you to chose your mask. The design on the mask will indicate your codename. You will wear your mask at all times while in uniform."

Tsunade pulled open a drawer on the bookshelf. She was surprised by what she found. She had forgotten that she had so many ANBU on active duty. There was a lone mask sitting in the cabinet. It was dusty; the particles probably collected from years without use. Picking it up, she blew off all of the dust that had built up on the porcelain.

"Sorry Naruto, but you don't have much of a choice. It seems the only mask left is the kitsune. I guess the hatred of the Kyūbi no Yoko is so strong in the village that even ANBU won't wear the mask," Tsunade replied nervously. This was embarrassing. Tsunade knew that most of the villagers were no longer vocal in their opinions of Naruto. Some had even started to accept the boy, mainly the shinobi population, but there were still those few that hated the boy. The attack was almost sixteen years ago. Couldn't they give it a rest already?

"Don't worry, it's fine. I'm kind of glad I'm the one to receive it," Naruto grinned at Tsunade. He slipped the mask on. It fit perfectly as if it were made for him.

"Okay Kitsune. Your mission begins as soon as Team Kakashi reports for their first briefing. From there on out, you will look for clues regarding Sasuke Uchiha."

"Hai," Kitsune replied.

"One last piece of information. There is an ANBU member, codename Karasu, undercover with the Akatsuki," Tsunade added. Even with his mask on, Tsunade was able to see the visible surprise shown on Naruto's features.

"Who?" Naruto asked. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer. There was a spy within a criminal organization trying to capture him, none of the members he met so far seemed all that pleasant. They weren't people Naruto would call comrades.

The Godaime sat back down in her chair. She really wished she could have a drink, but this had to be done. None of the others knew of Karasu's assignment, and it would be dangerous to send in Naruto, but he was the best option she had right now.

Taking a deep breath, the Hokage answered, "Itachi Uchiha."

"Nani?" Naruto yelled in surprise. "There's no way. He tried to kidnap me. He attacked Sasuke right before my eyes!"

"I know. It's hard to believe, but I came across it in one of the Sandaime's files. The Uchiha clan was planning a coup d'etat. The council, against the wishes of the Sandaime, forced Sensei to order Itachi to stop the attempt by killing his entire clan. Itachi fulfilled his mission; killing everyone, except Sasuke. He then went undercover in the infant Akatsuki to stop them from harming Konoha."

"That's not possible!" Naruto protested. It couldn't be true. Sasuke fell down his twisted path because of his brother, but if Itachi was just following orders; Naruto didn't want to think about it.

"It is!" the Hokage fired back. "I didn't want to believe it either. It is a shameful moment in Konoha's history, but it happened. If you can, set up a meeting with him and exchange information."

"H-hai," Naruto stumbled out. The Hokage was right. It was in the past. Now all he could do was face the future. Still, he couldn't help but feel bad for Itachi.

"Good. Now go get the rest of your uniform from down stairs. You won't be receiving a tattoo just yet; it's too risky at this point. After you finish your first mission, we'll discuss it. Kitsune, you're dismissed."

"Hai Hokage-sama," Kitsune said as he disappeared in cloud of smoke, off to get his uniform and standard supplies. It had been a long day. He needed some rest.

The Hokage just stared at the plume of white smoke as it disappeared. _He knows the Shunshin as well_, she thought. _Just what have I gotten myself into?_ The Godaime opened one of her desk drawers. Inside was a fresh bottle of saké waiting to be opened so she could drink away all her problems, but before she indulged, Tsunade had one last thought. _What am I going to do with you Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze?_

* * *

**Glossary:**

Kage Bunshin- Shadow Clone, Kage Bunshins differ from normal Bunshins because Kage Bunshins are solid. The users also gains all the memories of the Kage Bunshins; this makes them great for intelligence gathering and for training. Naruto is able to create hundreds of Kage Bunshins, shortening the amount of time he needs to train.

Fūinjutsu- Sealing Techniques, these are jutsu that seal objects, living beings, chakra, along with a wide variety of other things within another object.

Densetsu no Sannin- Legendary Three Ninja

Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai (ANBU)- Special Assassination and Tactical Squad, the ANBU are under the direct authority of Hokage. The system varies for depending on the village. Most are under the direct control of the Kage, but it is uncertain if the details are true. A known fact is that Kirigakure has a special division of ANBU known as oinin, the purpose is for hunting down nukenin from Kirigakure.

Gamatichi- An original character, Gamatichi is a gama summon. Due to his young age, Gamatichi is being used as a messenger since he is still not yet old enough to fight. He also has a very playful nature, this is characterized by the pranks he likes to play. Naruto has taken a liking to Gamatichi, because Naruto sees a bit of himself in the gama. Since Naruto and Gamatichi have a budding friendship, Gamatichi has taken on some of Naruto's old habits, such as calling Jiraiya, Ero-sennin.

Uzu no Kuni- Land of Whirlpools, no one is quite sure of the fate of the Uzu no Kuni, it is widely believed that Uzu was destroyed during a conflict during the Daisanji Ninkai Taisen, but no one is exactly sure of when or how the tragedy happened.

Gyaku Kuchiyose no Jutsu- Reverse Summoning Technique, this jutsu is mainly used by summons to return or bring back something to their home.

Daisanji Ninkai Taisen- Third Great Shinobi World War, not all the details on the war are known. It appears that mainly Iwagakure and Konohagakure were on the opposing sides. During the war, Minato Namikaze became a war hero for Konoha and a hated enemy for Iwa.

Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō- Konoha's Yellow Flash, the nickname given to Minato Namikaze during the Daisanji Ninkai Taisen.

Hiraishin no Jutsu- Flying Thunder God Technique, the Hiraishin is a Jikūkan Ninjutsu that allows the user to travel almost instantaneously from point to point. The jutsu first requites a seal to mark the destination, then, much like a summoning, the user creates a rift in space-time to move to the seal. The Hiraishin does have hand signs, but with practice, the user might not need them. Minato Namikaze developed this jutsu either a short time before the Daisanji Ninkai Taisen or during it. The jutsu also earned Minato his nickname.

Jikūkan Ninjutsu- Space-time ninjutsu, these jutsu deal with the manipulation of time and/or space.

Nukenin- Missing Ninja

Kirigakure- Hidden Mist

Oinin- Hunter Ninja

Shinobi Godaikoku- Five Great Shinobi Countries, The Five Countries are Iwagakure, Kirigakure, Konohagakure, Kumogakure and Sunagakure.

Kitsune- Fox

Karasu- Crow, Karasu also serves as Itachi's ANBU codename. Originally Weasel was the planned named, but Itachi means Weasal. Karasu was picked due to Itachi's use of crows in his Genjutsu and Ninjutsu.

**Author's Note:** Please inform me of any errors, regardless of how big or little. Does any else think this story has too much dialog?

**Updated: **1/7/11


	4. Chapter 3: Origins

Chapter Three: Origins

**The night air was still.** A cool, damp breeze rolled across Konoha—a typical summer evening. The night was vibrant; the stars were out in full glory, not overshadowed because of the new moon. It was quiet, but not silent. Some parts of the village were awake. Bars served their patrons well into the night, and the liquor was still, without a doubt, flowing like a river. Even the Hokage was among drunken crowd. Konoha was peaceful. Still, something was wrong. Kitsune could feel it.

The ANBU didn't lose his composure over his worry. A feeling isn't always true. Sensing between dream and reality is always difficult, especially when you don't know what to look for. Of course, there was the chance that the sensation crawling up Kitsune's spine was wrong, but that didn't bring him any relief. After a couple months of these patrols, the tan coat wearing man had begun to develop a sixth sense. A sense that helped him identify the unconscious malice found within humanity.

Kitsune sighed. He couldn't comprehend why people didn't try to understand each other. It only lead to more pain and conflict. Kitsune shuddered again; something was wrong—he felt it. More hatred and pain would spread tonight if he didn't stop it. So the shinobi did the only thing he could, he swallowed his fear and insecurity, making sure he checked every single detail with the utmost precision.

Jumping off his perch on the Hokage Tower, Kitsune began another round on his patrol. Silently, he made his way over to some of the training grounds. He gracefully hopped along branches; his motions nearly undetectable. Suddenly, Kitsune's sensitive hearing picked up the sound of clanging metal. To his best estimate, the noise seemed to come from clashing kunai—a battle. Changing his course, he leapt into the brush and enhanced his vision. What was once invisible became clear as if night had become day. With his chakra enhancing the cones and rods on his retinas, Kitsune observed the small scuffle.

It was nothing to be alarmed over. A young genin team was training in the dark with their jonin sensei. Kitsune watched as the genin stumbled around, their sensei trying to help his students develop their senses in the dark. Even though he could move on, the older ANBU continued to watch through the slits in his porcelain mask. The team consisted of two shinobi and one kunoichi. The two boys were sparing, and, from what Kitsune could tell, they had a rivalry. The girl was trying to hard concentrate on her current exercise, but she was easily distracted by her two teammates trading blows. Kitsune couldn't help but reminisce. It seemed like so long ago since his team had been united. He was definitely going to bring _him_ back.

For now though, Kitsune had a duty to watch and protect the village. Finally moving on from his perch, he made his way back into the village. Everything seemed quite. Midnight had just passed and the moon began to set in the west. The weekend had officially begun and all was calm. The ANBU felt relieved. Maybe tonight wasn't going to be so bad. His worries earlier were just that, worries.

Kitsune noticed a water tower on a roof a couple blocks to his right. Deciding that it would be good position to observe the area, he gathered chakra in his legs and launched himself in the air. His tan coat flapped in the wind, letting some of the cool night air reach his skin. The breeze brought much needed relief to his flushed skin, but the feeling quickly disappeared as Kitsune remembered that he had to land on the aluminum container, making as little noise as possible.

Once again gathering chakra in his legs and feet, Kitsune made contact with the water tower, but as the rest of his body followed his feet, the well-trained shinobi crouched, taking away some of the momentum from his jump, minimizing the noise. Looking down the street, some villagers walked—well stumbled—out of what could only be a bar. He watched as the drunk men said their good-byes and began splitting up. Most went further from Kitsune's view while a single man began heading his way. The man seemed rather rowdy. He was yelling a little here and there. From what Kitsune could tell, it seemed the man had just lost his job. The economy had been suffering lately. Everyone seemed worried about the mysterious criminal organization, Akatsuki. Trade was suffering.

Kitsune continued to watch the man. The rest of Konoha was peaceful and it was probably a good idea to make sure this man got home okay. Taking a seat, Kitsune glanced up at the sky again. He didn't know why he was so edgy tonight. The other nights he went out on patrol weren't nearly as calm as tonight. He was beginning to wonder why the Hokage even wanted him out on these patrol shifts. He had caught a few robbers, but there were other ANBU that could've handled it. Whatever the reason, she was pretty firm in her decision.

* * *

"_Kitsune."_

"_Hai Hokage-sama."_

_The Hokage looked at the kneeling ANBU. It was strange seeing the man she knew so well behave in such a fashion. Still, she was short on resources and she needed extra help. Until now, the shinobi before her had only had one mission in the ANBU, but that would have to change. Tensions were becoming higher among the Shinobi Godaikoku_ _and Konohagakure couldn't afford to appear weak. Thus, Tsunade needed to draw more ANBU for higher ranked missions. Kitsune would have to carry some extra weight._

"_I need you to take a few patrols. Your identity must remain a secret, therefore, I'm putting you on night shifts. Your assignments are in this folder."_

_Tsunade tossed the files over to the ANBU captain. Kitsune quickly scanned through the contents. Finding nothing he should vocally be concerned of, Kitsune nodded, "Hai Hokage-sama."_

* * *

Looking down the street, the tan coated shinobi saw a teenage girl sneaking down the street. She was probably a civilian. Konohamaru, even as an academy student, had better stealth prowess than her. Deciding that stealth was getting her nowhere fast, the girl tried walking casually. Waving to the man as she passed, the man returned the action. He stumbled along a little further before he suddenly turned around. Kitsune raised an eyebrow behind his mask at the man. That was unexpected.

The man sneaked up on girl. Just as the girl walked in front of an alleyway, the man sprung on the girl. Using his hand to muffle the girls scream, he dragged the girl into the cover of the alley.

"Kuso," swore Kitsune as he hurried from his position. This was bad. He had handled petty thieves before, but nothing like this. Every second was precious, because one wasted second could mean a victim with physical and mental trauma.

The man easily overpowered the girl. She was young, most likely sixteen or seventeen. The man smiled maliciously; she was perfect, exactly what he need. After losing his job, he could extract a little pleasure from the girl. He let his hands roam slowly over the girl, exploring her most intimate places. Yes, it felt so good, but it wasn't enough; he needed more. The man began ripping and slashing at the girl's clothes. Her screams, pleading with him to stop only served to further arouse him.

Having successfully cornered the girl, the man began to undue his belt. The girl took the few seconds she had to back as far as she could into the alley. She tried to cover her exposed flesh as the man roamed his lust filled eyes over her body. Having successfully removed his pants, he crawled toward his future victim. The need for pleasure filled every fiber of his being, while fear caused the girl to begin convulsing. Suddenly, a kunai blocked his path, but he was too far along now to be stopped. He would have his pleasure. Ignoring the metal weapon, he continued on.

The tag attached to the end of the kunai fluttered down gently to the ground. Faster than the drunken man's mind could react, a man in a tan coat appeared. Being drunk, the man crawled directly into the ANBU. The man, startled, jumped up realizing just exactly what he ran into. He pulled his pants back up and sloppily re-did his built. The man chuckled nervously and tried to back away, but Kitsune had other plans.

"The kunai was your warning," the ANBU said, his voice deep and powerful.

The man gulped. Kitsune reacted. He punched the man in the stomach. The drunken man almost instantly buckled over in pain, but Kitsune wasn't done. Quickly spinning around the man, Kitsune elbowed the man in the back of the head, knocking the girl's attacker out instantly.

The girl made a small another small scream when Kitsune turned around. She was obviously afraid. Kitsune decided his appearance wasn't helping, but what was he supposed to do? It wasn't like he could just take off his uniform, but the girl obviously needed some sort of comfort. What was he going to do? He had never really been comforted before. It was foreign; now he had to help this girl. Kitsune swore to himself. He'd just have to wing it.

Walking slowly over to the girl, he crouched down as soon as he was within an arm's reach.

"Shush," he whispered softly. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Kitsune slowly began rubbing her arm. The girl cautiously began to respond to his touch. She stopped convulsing and her muscles began to relax. Her breaths became longer and more controlled, and the color began to return to her face.

"Don't worry you're safe."

"Who are you?" the girl asked tentatively, fear was clearly still present in her voice.

"Other ANBU will be here to assist you," Kitsune said backing away. He needed to go before he was discovered, because technically, he didn't exist.

"Wait," the girl pleaded, "don't go, please."

"You'll be fine, I promise. I won't let anyone hurt you."

With that the ANBU was gone. The girl could only stare with her hand outstretched trying to reach the man that saved her. She collapsed on the ground, her body had reached exhaustion, but even with her mind unconscious, one thought plagued the girl, _who was that man?_

* * *

"Neko report," the Hokage ordered.

"Hai Hokage-sama," the ANBU captain said. The man stood up, allowing himself enunciate more clearly. "The victim was Toki Daidouji. The attack happened approximately at midnight. The attacker, Haruhiko Minamoto, was found unconscious at the scene."

Neko showed a photo of the attacker to Tsunade. The Godaime scrutinized the photo for a little while, wondering what exactly caused this man to try to rape an innocent girl. Becoming sickened by her thoughts, the Hokage signaled Neko to continue.

"Our investigation into the attacker revealed that he was quite drunk. The man had also recently lost his job. He was a local trader, but his business failed. According to the testimonies of civilians who knew the attacker, he was becoming increasingly more unstable, and he already had a history of alcohol abuse."

Tsunade held back a sigh. That certainly explained some questions. Crime was increasingly becoming a larger issue, but this had been one of the more serious felonies. After the Kyubi attacked, crime spiked. In the coming years, it dropped. In fact, it was at an all time low. Now, just like the rest of the world, everything was falling apart. Tsunade had enough personal reflection; it was time to move on.

"Neko, what information do you have on the victim, Toki Daidouji?"

"According to her statement, she was unharmed in the attack. The victim was a little shaken, but remarkably truthful; she was unharmed," Neko informed. Tsunade was confused by this, but she decided it was best to let the ANBU captain finish explaining the situation.

"According to Daidouji-san she was saved by an ANBU. She was unable to get a good look at the mask, but she believed the mask to be in the shape of a kitsune. According to our records, there is no ANBU currently registered with that mask or codename, and after questioning all ANBU on active duty we were unable to find this rescuer. It seems unlikely that this unknown poses any real threat. Many criminals over the past couple months were apprehended by an unknown vigilanté. Until now, only small investigations have been looking into the identity of this figure, so far they have been conducted with little to no success. If Dadouji-san's statement is correct, we have a man impersonating an ANBU in a kitsune mask. I recommend that we do a full—"

"That will be unnecessary Neko," the Hokage interjected, surprising Neko. This was a serious matter. It definitely warranted an investigation.

"Hokage-sama, I must insist that we find the identity of this unknown character."

Tsunade revealed a piercing, angry stare at the ANBU captain. Neko felt himself become rigid under the weight of her gaze. He could feel the subtle killing intent that was oozing off of the Godaime. The masked man knew he struck the wrong cord with his Hokage.

"I understand your position Neko, but this matter is not of your concern." The Hokage's speech was caustic, yet restrained. It seemed she was barely holding back her anger at Neko's insubordination. The ANBU gulped nervously deciding that it was best to no longer push the subject, or ever mention it again for that matter.

"Hai Hokage-sama," the man said.

"You're dismissed."

Relieved to here those two words the ANBU shunshined away. Neko almost incurred the wrath of the Hokage. Still, the man was confused by what had happened. He was fixated on this mysterious imposter. The Hokage seemed to know something, but was clearly unwilling to share. Neko would definitely discuss this with the other ANBU. Maybe they could _accidently_ stumble on to the identity of this character.

Tsunade let out an audible sigh. She knew for now that Kitsune was still relatively contained. She knew rumors would spread. An unknown ANBU doesn't go unnoticed. This was going to be a pain in the ass. Tsunade got up from her desk, she needed to contact the source of her trouble. Still, this trouble was worth it, especially with what the alternative would've been. Leaving her office, Tsunade called to her assistant, Shizune, who had been waiting patiently outside of the office with Ton Ton, allowing the Hokage have her meeting in private with Neko.

"I'm leaving for a moment," the Godaime announced, surprising the black haired woman. "Please ask my other appointments to wait until further notice."

"Hai Hokage-sama. May I inquire as to why?"

Tsunade didn't bother turning around to address the confused woman, "I have another private meeting. I am not to be disturbed."

"Hai Tsunade-sama," Shizune answered, confusion riddled within her tone. Tsunade would try to drink throughout the day. Most of the time, the Hokage's assistant would have to put a stop to Tsunade's inappropriate indulgences, but the aura around the blond sannin suggested a serious attitude. Honestly, Shizune was a little afraid. Seeing Tsunade so focused was a rare occurrence. The black haired assistant could only wonder what was going on as the Hokage disappeared from around the corner.

* * *

"Kitsune."

"Hai Hokage-sama."

"I just received Neko's report," the Hokage said, trailing off a little at the end. Tsunade bit the inside of her cheek, trying not to smile. It would be fun to mess with the poor man. Sure, the man was a highly capable shinobi. The man could possibly even defeat her, but it was at time like these where the sannin decided it would be best to prank the young man before her. Tsunade knew it would be a shame to let the ANBU grow too quickly.

Kitsune was falling into the carefully planned trap. Regardless of the ANBU's past record, stretching back into his pre-genin days, the young man was unable to detect the Hokage's ploy. He was beginning to perspire under his coat. To him, the Hokage had to be serious. She wouldn't joke with a matter so delicate, right?

"Sumimasen Hokage-sama, but there was no other—" he was cut off as the Hokage dismissed him with her hand. Kitsune was a little confused, but quickly understood that he being played with. Kitsune swallowed his rage. This called for revenge. Normally an ANBU could not retaliate against their Hokage, but Kitsune knew the perfect loop-hole.

"There's no need to apologize Kitsune. The situation was unavoidable," the Hokage admitted. "The girl wasn't hurt. That's all I care about, but in addition to the girl's safety she wasn't able to accurately identify you. Unfortunately, she noticed enough information for rumors to begin spreading. Many ANBU will now be looking specifically for you."

"Understood, Hokage-sama," Kitsune replied. He assumed that this would happen. Not that he meant to be put in this situation, but the ANBU was secretly hoping that he would get a little vacation time. Working the graveyard shift isn't easy, especially when you have other appointments the next morning.

"Therefore," the Hokage continued, "I believe it's best that you lie low for a while."

_Dattebayo_.

"That is all, you're dismissed."

Kitsune vanished in a swirl of leaves.

* * *

The sun was bright and warm. The air was moist, but filled with a light breeze that cooled the skin with it's benign touch. The day was young and the whimsical blond ninja was at loss on how to spend the day. Team Kakashi and Team Asuma were both off of active duty, having recently survived two members of the Akatsuki. Sakura was most likely volunteering at the hospital, meaning she wouldn't want to be disturbed. Kakashi was a hard man to find; Naruto could find him, but Kakashi was always reading his sensei's trashy novels and the white haired man was not a very open person to begin with because of his own personal demons. Shikamaru, Ino and Chōji still needed a little more time to grieve over their loss. Naruto had never really known Asuma, but from what Naruto had gathered from Asuma while studying Fūton Ninjutsu with his friends' sensei; he was a great man.

Team Kurenai and Team Gai were out on missions.

Naruto was essentially alone. The young blond decided that if he had to waste time, he'd waste it productively. The ninja made his way deep into Konoha's training grounds, away from watching eyes. He found a nice clearing. The area seemed older and less maintained. The grass was getting long in some areas, and it was dead in others. Some of the surrounding trees were scorched, destroyed by a nameless Katon or Raiton ninjutsu. The field's state didn't matter to Naruto, but it did reaffirm the training grounds seclusion.

Now Naruto only had to worry on what to practice. He had been able to master the Fūton: Rasengan and created the Fūton: Rasenshuriken. The Rasenshurikn had proven dangerous to use. Baa-chan had clarified that. Still, the jutsu was unbridled with potential. If kaze chakra was unable to used, what about mizu chakra? Water would not be as sharp as wind, but since both water and air are fluids, combining water with a Rasengan would provide a similar effect.

Naruto channeled his chakra into the palm of his right hand. Using the mark provided by Jiraiya, Naruto manipulated the chakra into a sphere. Then he called on his water nature. By utilizing quick bursts of water chakra, the blond formed the necessary swirling vortex. What had taken him a week of practice to form a Fūton: Rasengan, Naruto had formed a Suiton: Rasengan with a single try. It seemed too easy, but the principles were basically same. Now all he had to do was test the properties of the the new jutsu.

Launching his Rasengan filled hand at a tree, the whirlpool of chakra began ripping through the bark, but as Naruto forced the Rasengan deeper into the tree, the rapidly spinning sphere quickly became unstable. Unable to maintain the control, Naruto released the Suiton: Rasengan. The chakra exploded outward, away from his hand. The water nature chakra cut through the core of the tree.

Amazingly enough, the large tree that Naruto tested his new Rasengan on was still standing. Naruto quickly went to inspect the damage that the jutsu caused. There were ripples in the wood. The ripples were similar to the ones made by his wind nature chakra when applied to a Rasengan, but there was a distinct difference between the two types of nature chakra. While wind was thinner and much sharper, the water made rougher uneven marks. Naruto could see where he felt the attack become less stable. There were noticeable stray marks that hacked at the internal trunk of the tree. Finally, Naruto identified where he released the jutsu. The lines went from stray to completely out of control. Taking a look at the other side, it was much more prominent to tell where the chakra was released. A huge cone expanded from the discharge, filling the wood with deep gashes.

It really was amazing the tree even withstood the attack.

The jutsu obviously worked, but taking it a step further could possibly be as dangerous as the Rasenshuriken. Maybe there was another way to make a more powerful justu. Naruto needed to think. He sat cross-legged on the ground. Scrunching his face into his typical thinking facet, Naruto began trying to remember everything he learned about ninjutsu.

Seconds turned into minutes. Nothing he knew was helping him. Naruto yelled at the sky. This shouldn't be that hard. Deciding that having both his two nature chakra Rasengans in his hands would help with his thinking process, Naruto formed a Fūton: Rasengan and a Suiton: Rasengan.

The blond just stared at the two balls of chakra. One was made of water. The other was made of wind. _Mizu and kaze_, he thought. Suddenly, Naruto remembered a conversation that he had with Jiraiya.

"_Naruto, chakra is broken up into five main elements: Hi, Kaze, Kaminari, Tsuchi and Mizu. In some cases, like the boy you described, Haku, the five elements can be combined in special ways to create new justu. Haku could create the Kōri chakra. His manipulation of the ice allowed him to use Hyōton __ninjutsu. Generally, only those with the aid of a Kekkei Genkai can combine different natures. Although some say it's still possible even without a Kekkei Genkai."_

Slowly, Naruto moved his hands together. Maybe he could combine the Rasengans to form the Kōri element. Naruto watched as his hands grew closer and closer. The two balls of chakra were now just about to touch.

* * *

Sakura was enjoying her day at the hospital. So far there hadn't been any major injuries that had to be dealt with. The pink haired girl smiled to the Nurse handling the front-desk. The woman just smiled at the kunoichi as she approached.

"Haruno-san are you done with your last patient?

"Hai Kotone-san. Is there anyone else that I need to treat."

The receptionist looked at the files on her counter. Looking through them, the nurse didn't see anything that required immediate attention. Thankfully, it was a rather slow day.

"I don't believe so. If you want, you could probably have the rest of the day to yourself Haruno-san."

"Alright, I'll see you later Kotone-san. You'll be able to find me if you need extra help."

"Good-bye Haruno-san, enjoy your day."

Sakura returned gesture. Now, young medic could just enjoy her day. Stepping out into the sun, she could feel heat radiating from above. Her eyes enjoyed contrast of the natural light to the hospital's bright fluorescents. Her ears could hear the wonderful sound of children playing in the street. Sakura was going to seize the day and relax. Everything was going right in Konoha—at least it was until a large boom rung throughout the village causing the ground to shake because of the shockwave.

Sakura sighed. Why couldn't she just have one day of rest?

* * *

**Glossary:**

Shinobi Godaikoku- Five Great Shinobi Nations

Kuso- Shit

Neko- Cat

Sumimasen- I'm sorry, Sumimasen is used instead of Gomen because Kitsune is speaking to a superior.

Dattebayo- There isn't an English equivalent. In the sense used here, Naruto is happy about receiving the vacation. It's similar to a person saying "yes" or "alright" to his or her self. As a child Dattebayo was Naruto's _catchphrase._

Fūton- Wind Release

Fūton: Rasengan- Wind Release: Spiraling Sphere

Fūton: Rasenshuriken- Wind Release: Spiraling Shuriken

Kaze- Wind

Mizu- Water

Suiton: Rasengan- Water Release: Spiraling Sphere, technically the same as the Fūton: Rasengan, the Suiton: Rasengan is becomes less stable on impact. This is due to the fact that the water can not become as thin and sharp as wind. As the jutsu moves through an object the water becomes caught on what it is moving through. If Naruto releases the technique, the water quickly becomes unstable exploding outward away from the user because the front point is the attacking point, the most unstable area.

Hi- Fire

Kaminari- Lightning

Tsuchi- Earth

Kōri- Ice, formed by melding Kaze and Mizu chakra.

Hyōton- Ice Release

Kekkei Genkai- A technique limited to inheritance by blood, only those with the right genetics can have the ability. Examples: Sharingan, Byakugan and Hyōton

**Author's Note:** Please inform me of any mistakes. Beta's are welcome as well.

**Updated:** 1/7/11


	5. Chapter 4: Preparation

Chapter Four: Preparation

**The light was blinding** as Naruto opened his eyes. His conscious mind quickly began registering the smells of disinfectants and other chemicals, causing Naruto to cringe. Careful to open his eyes slowly, Naruto saw the all too familiar tile ceiling of Konohagakure's main hospital. Kami he hated this place. Every memory he had of the building only made him feel contempt for it. He had had so much pain within this building. There was no happiness here. Well—that wasn't true. Sakura volunteered here; maybe there was hope for these walls yet.

Why was he in the hospital though? After a few seconds, his mind finally began clicking at full speed again. The memory of what he did rushed back at him like a wave. The two Rasengans when they made contact didn't combine; instead the compressed chakra exploded with much more force than expected. He could remember being forced up into the sky before blacking out. _Chikusho, that was dumb, _Naruto berated himself. He was probably going to hear about this later. The blond could only imagine how he looked when someone found him. He hoped people would just assume that he was planning a prank or doing something else along those lines, and that it went wrong. He couldn't have his cover blown over something as trivial as this. When it came to an orgainization of S-classed nukenin who's sole purpose was to hunt him, the true nature of his strength could very keep him alive, but only if it was kept hidden.

Well, Naruto couldn't worry about that now. He'd been in this hospital long enough. The Kyūbi had probably already healed him. There was no need to stick around here. Naruto tried to sit up, but quickly realized that there was a weight not normally on his shoulder. Looking over, all he saw was pink.

_Sakura_, what was she doing here and why was she using him as a pillow? Sure his teammate had visited him before while he was in the hospital, but she had never stayed long enough to fall asleep. She wasn't even in one of the far off chairs by the wall. By the looks of it, she had actually pulled a chair closer to him. What did all of this mean?

Naruto decided that he couldn't wait forever for her to wake up, but just as he was about to nudge her awake, a click came from the door handle; signaling that someone was entering. It was Kakashi.

"Yo," the white haired man said as he peeked into the room. He gave his signature two-fingered wave.

"Hey sensei. What are you doing here?" the current hospital patient asked.

Kakashi smiled behind his mask. "Do I need a reason to visit one of my students while they're in the hospital?"

Naruto just narrowed his eyes. Kakashi chuckled nervously, "Gomen, the Hokage wanted me to get you. She's set up a very_ special_ meeting."

"Understood. Do you know what it's about?" Kakashi stiffened slightly. It was unlike the experienced man to betray his emotions. Whatever the subject was about, it was very emotional.

"Sasuke," the one-eyed man almost whispered. After that name was mentioned, both men were flooded with emotions, ranging from regret to determination. The truth was obvious, when it came to Sasuke everyone had made mistakes, but that didn't change the fact the Uchiha had been the one who decided to leave. His betrayal was painful, and it didn't help that both shinobi thought that they could have done something—anything—different to stop their raven haired teammate from defecting.

After a long pause, Naruto quietly muttered, "I see."

Naruto mustered the energy to make a fake half-smile, "Arigatou Kakashi-sensei. Please tell Baa-chan I'll be reporting soon."

"I will. Ja ne," Kakashi said without his normal enthusiasm . He then shushined away.

Naruto buried the back of his head into the pillow and stared at the ceiling tiles once again. So, Sasuke was back. The last time the two met, Sasuke seriously considered killing him—his best friend tried to stab him with his blade. Of course, Sasuke had no chance of killing him, and luckily Sai blocked his blade or else his identity would've been discovered, but that didn't matter. Sasuke Uchiha had wanted to take Naruto's life. That fact resonated with Naruto. How did it come to this? Sasuke had even told him that he spared his life on a whim after they fought at the Shūmatsu no Tani. So, why kill him now? What could Sasuke be thinking?

It didn't matter. Naruto had to save his friend. How could he ever deserve the role of Hokage if he couldn't bring him back?

Unfortunately there were more pressing matters at hand for Naruto. His dream of being Hokage could wait and returning Sasuke was only a matter of time—he was sure of that. Actually, all of that seemed trivial to the situation that the blond found himself in now.

The sleeping girl, that Naruto had somehow forgotten about, had decided not to wake up, but instead was snuggling deeper into the blond. Naruto could feel his heart beat picking up. This was probably the closest he'd ever been to Sakura. Her touch made his skin feel as if it was on fire. Apparently, the pink-haired girl liked the warmth Naruto was giving off because she once again moved closer to him; her body now on the precipice of her chair. This was too much. The look on her face was so innocent, so beautiful. What the hell was he supposed to do? He really wanted to enjoy the bliss he was in, but if Sakura ever woke and found him in the state, Naruto knew he wouldn't have long to live. That was why he also really wanted to wake the pink-haired girl up, but his body was protesting the orders from him his mind.

Naruto was frozen. There was nothing he could do to stop the fiery heat spreading up his arm, down into his stomach, then to the rest of his body. Naruto had never felt so alive before. The power of the Kyūbi's chakra was nothing in comparison to the feeling he had right now. Slowly, his mind began to wander to things involving him and—No! This had to stop. Sakura was coming even closer and—

Naruto jumped as a loud feminine yelp broke him out of his reverie. Naruto sat up and quickly looked around the room trying to find the source of the small scream, but wait; he was sitting up. The weight that was once there had disappeared. Looking down and to his right, Naruto saw teammate staring awkwardly back at him from the floor.

Sakura quickly jumped up and began nervously straitening out the non-existent wrinkles on her clothes out. All while Naruto just continued to stare at her, eyes unblinking. She couldn't get a fix on what emotion he had on his face. There were too many to tell, and it created an almost blank visage.

"Naruto, you're awake?" she asked, even though it was a statement. Right now Sakura just wanted to break the awkward silence that had developed. She noticed a few loose strands of hair and tenderly tucked them back into place. The pink haired girl could feel her cheeks starting to heat up, but Naruto didn't seem to notice. He still had that same awkward expression that was beginning to seem particularly more and more like confusion; which only made Sakura more nervous.

Raspier than he would've hoped, Naruto replied, "Hai, Sakura-chan."

Naruto felt pretty confused. This situation was awkward, and Naruto's confusion wasn't helped by that fact that Sakura looked—well—flustered. Besides the bewilderment, Naruto had a combination of other emotions, fear being quite prominent. Honestly, part of him was scared to death. He hoped Sakura wouldn't become too angry at what happened. Sakura had a temper hotter than a Katon jutsu, who knew when she would strike or what she would attack over. Still, deep down, another part of him couldn't shake off the feeling of Sakura's head wedged on to his shoulder—it had just felt so perfect.

Coughing into her hand, Sakura looked nervously at the ceiling. Kami, she was so nervous, but why? She needed to leave and go get some fresh air. Yeah, that's what she needed, some air.

"Well, I'm glad you feel better," Sakura was still trying to avoid eye-contact, "and never do what you did again. I'll see you later."

With her good-bye accomplished, Sakura tried to get out of the room as fast as humanly possible without looking rushed, but since she was forcing herself, it back fired. Sakura knew she looked like a fool walking out of the room, and as soon as she was through the door, she slammed it closed. A loud bang rocked the room and dust fell gently from the ceiling and wall around the door—hairline cracks were now visible, emanating from the wooden frame.

For the first time in a while, Naruto blinked.

What in the hell had just happened?

Naruto continued to look at the door. But his confusion was quickly melting into a feeling forgetfulness. There was something he had to do. _Kuso!_ He had a meeting with Tsunade. Naruto quickly shot out of bed and stripped out of the hospital's robe. Running over to his belongs he pulled out scroll. He unrolled the parchment till he found a seal in black ink. Biting his thumb hard enough to draw blood, Naruto swiped the red fluid over the calligraphy. The seal accepted the Naruto's blood, and in a poof of white smoke, the clothes Naruto needed appeared. Putting on the garment, Naruto channeled chakra into his ears to enhance them to make sure there wouldn't be any intruders. He couldn't be seen, traveling in the day was forbidden. No one could know he existed. Luckily, it didn't sound like anyone was coming in, but there was a person near the door. Naruto wasn't sure what was going on with that person; he could here their heart beat, and it was pretty fast.

He wondered who it was? Maybe it was—no. That was too unlikely. Besides, it's not like he could go see who it was at this point. He couldn't spare any more time to tell someone he was checking out. He was late and he needed to go, now. It's not like he had never disappeared from the hospital before.

Sakura was standing out side of Naruto's room. She needed to check up on him. She didn't before, and every doctor needed to be professional around their patients. But why was she so jittery though? It was just Naruto. Sakura took a deep breath. She had already made a fool of herself today; a second time would be disastrous. Taking another breath, Sakura smiled, closed her eyes and walked into the room.

"Hey Naruto, sorry about earlier. I was just—"

The room was empty. Sakura walked back into the hall and checked the room number. It was the right number. Sakura clenched her first. She was mad. The blond baka had run away again. She should have expected this. It's not like this was the first time this had happened. That baka. Once she found him, Naruto was going to be in for a world of hurt. She would teach him not to run away from the hospital, even if she had to put him back in there herself.

* * *

"Hai Hokage-sama," the kneeling ANBU said. Kitsune's was looking down showing his silent obedience as he was awaiting orders from his kage.

"Kitsune come see what I have on my desk," the Hokage ordered, while simultaneously using her hand to silently wave the ANBU over.

The black ops shinobi effortlessly made his way over. He noticed for the first time the large chart sprawled over the Hokage's desk. There where grid lines crisscrossing the thin parchment indicating lines of latitude and longitude. Features such as rivers and mountains elegantly drawn onto the paper, and with neatest of calligraphy, there were characters, naming significant areas and villages.

"A map, Tsunade-sama?" Kitsune asked, puzzled as to why the map was so important. He believed that he had been summoned for something a little more significant than looking at a map.

"That's correct," Tsunade confirmed, but noted that the ANBU failed to notice a certain detail. "To be more specific, it is a map of Hi no Kuni."

Still confused about the subject of the conversation, the young oinin looked away from the map back into the honey-brown eyes of the Hokage. "Why is that important?"

The Hokage leaned back comfortably into her chair, trying to release some of the tension that this conversation was already creating. Sasuke was a touchy subject and this situation needed to be handled carefully. Tsunade could tell that Kitsune was trying to be calm and patient. She was amazed that the ANBU had restrained himself thus far, but now was not the time for brash actions.

Well, she had better get this over with.

"According to Jiraiya's spies, Sasuke has killed Orochimaru."

Tsunade's hand shot up to silence the ANBU.

"Reports from many sources indicate that Sasuke is no longer in Oto no Kuni. He disappeared for a while, but reappeared when he apparently destroyed one of Orochimaru's bases. He was seen heading in our direction and will be entering Hi no Kuni in a couple of days. We are still unsure what his true motives are, but we do know that he is not traveling alone now."

The Hokage indicated where Sasuke would be entering the country on her map. "Sasuke will cross the border here, and if his path stays consistent, his destination would be Nami no Kuni. Do you have any idea why he would head there?"

"No, Hokage-sama. Sasuke must have a purpose for heading there though. It is also strange that Sasuke is traveling with someone. Who ever that person is, Sasuke must find him or her useful. Therefore, we can assume that whomever that person is; he or she is quite powerful."

"True, but I can't afford to send any other forces than you at the moment. Team Kakashi will leave in five days to cut Sasuke and this interloper off. If you feel the need, I'm giving you complete discretion over this mission as long as you can stay undercover."

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Kitsune said, almost too enthusiastically. This was perfect. Even if Sasuke was traveling with a powerful enemy, Kitsune would definitely bring the Uchiha back. It was only a matter of time now.

"Kitsune you're dismissed, begin preparing for your mission."

The ANBU nodded before shushining to wherever.

The Hokage sighed. Why didn't she pick an easier career?

* * *

For Konoha's loudest shinobi, Naruto was much harder to find than Sakura originally anticipated.

Sakura was able to leave the hospital early. Thankfully, it had been a slow week and she now had some free time to scold Naruto for disappearing on her earlier. She was angry—and more than normal—at him. The baka didn't even say good-bye. But why did she care? Ever since she had fallen asleep on Naruto, the pink-haired girl had been having these weird feelings. That knowledge was plaguing her. She didn't have feeling for—no! That was just too weird, but, still.

That's why on this lovely afternoon, Sakura found her self mindlessly walking into the Yamanaka's flower shop. The scents of many different species of flowers and plants assaulted Sakura's nose. The air was fresh and cool, a nice change from hot and humid atmosphere outside. Sakura walked underneath one of the misters watering plants, letting the individual droplets cool her flushed skin. Sakura took a deep breath of the chilled air; it was refreshing. But Sakura wasn't here to stand in the fine mist, so she continued on.

Ino was sitting behind a counter in the middle of the store. By the was she was sitting, it was easy to tell she was bored. Both of her elbows were on the table; her arms being used to support her head which had found its way into palms of her hands. Ino breathed an exasperated sigh that also served to blow some stray blond bangs that had fallen onto her face out of the way. She stayed like that until she noticed movement behind one of the shelves of flowers.

"Welcome. Can I help you with anything," the blond called, trying to smile despite her displeasure of having to work and such a nice day.

Sakura appeared behind the corner, "Actually, Ino-buta I could use some cheering up."

"Dekorīn?" Ino asked surprised. Ino raised an eyebrow and looked at her friend incredulously, "What are you doing here?"

Sakura sighed, "I told you. Would you just come on already?"

Ino could tell that her friend was getting a little impatient, besides Sakura almost never asked to be cheered up. Something must really be bugging her. It had to be to get the stubborn girl to admit that she needed advice. So Ino did what she always does; she yelled to her mother, telling her she was leaving without waiting to hear a reply. Ino yanked of the white the white apron she was wearing, tossing it over the back of the chair she was once sitting in. It was a slow day. Her parents could manage without her; besides Sakura had missed out on some interesting gossip. Ino knew her mother would understand.

Sakura and Ino walked into the familiar barbeque restaurant. Ino had already made plans to meet Shikamaru and Choji there. It was going to be a way for the team to pay their respects to their deceased friend, comrade and sensei, Asuma. The two took their seats. They looked over the menu, and since Ino was probably going to be eating later with Choji and Shikamaru, they only ordered drinks.

"So what's up?" Ino asked after the waiter delivered the drinks to the two girls.

"Do you still like Sasuke?" the question was so sudden and quick, it almost seemed as if Sakura didn't want to ask it. The pink-haired girl looked away from her friend's face not wanting to see Ino's reaction.

Ino was a little taken back. She hadn't really thought much about the Uchiha since he left. His betrayal was tough. Everyone was hurt by Sasuke's actions, but for Naruto and Sakura—Ino couldn't imagine how they felt. A couple of years ago, Ino would never have admitted that Sakura was closer to the last Uchiha than she was, but now, Ino could tell that Sakura still harbored all that pain. Ino just had to tell Sakura the truth. Maybe then the pink haired girl could move on.

"I don't love him, if that's what you mean," Ino replied. Sakura seemed mildly surprised by the answer.

"Maybe during the academy I might have," Ino continued, "even if it was for the wrong reasons, but after everything he's done, the pain he's caused us. How could I continue to love him?"

Sakura didn't know what to think or what to feel, but something told her Ino was right. Maybe at one point in time, she, like Ino, had loved Sasuke, but things had changed. Sasuke was not the same boy they knew, or maybe he was still the same, but no one knew his true self. He had caused everyone pain. He nearly killed Naruto and left her on a park bench. Naruto. There he was again. Everything always ended at Naruto. With Sasuke there was always Naruto. Team Seven, the academy, her feeling; kami she felt so conflicted.

"I guess your right Ino," Sakura finally said, her voice, but a whisper against the cacophony of noise in the restaurant. "Still, if we don't love Sasuke, how can we tell if we're falling in love?"

Again Ino was taken back by the question. And that one was even tougher to answer. What did she truly know about love. Of course there were the obvious answers, but those same answers were always found in trashy romance novels. When it came to love, how could anyone justifiably give a straight answer?

"I don't know," the blond admitted. Sakura was surprised, her friend the gossip, the self-proclaimed know-it-all of love and seduction didn't have an answer. "I guess love is different for every person."

Sakura nodded slowly, taking in the words. Ino's trained eyes noticed her friend actions. She could see Sakura's eyes become distant as her friend began to become lost in thought. Ino watched as Sakura began making subconscious actions—Ino's eyes widened. It was a defense mechanism. Ino had known Sakura long enough to notice the signs. Sakura's eyes became distant. Her head tilted forward just that slight degree, as if to cover her forehead with her bangs. Ino smiled lewdly. There was a reason behind the questions and actions and Ino had pretty good idea about what it was.

"There's someone else," Ino whispered aloud. She hadn't meant to say it, because even though Sakura was in a trance, she knew Sakura would pick up on it.

"What? No. Of course there isn't Ino," Sakura said too quickly to be truthful. Of course Ino knew already that Sakura was lying, but now Ino knew she would never get any information from her pink-haired friend—that wouldn't stop her from trying though.

Ino smiled wickedly again, "So? Who is it?"

Sakura blushed and once again avoided Ino's stare. "I'm not telling you," Sakura yelled, which only made Ino try harder.

"Is it that new intern at the hospital? He's pretty cute."

"What?" Sakura yelled while her freind's prodding caused her to blush even more, which of course gave Ino the wrong idea.

"Ooh. It is, isn't it?"

"No!"

But Ino didn't stop there. Playing with Sakura was just too much fun. Ino sat back, acting calm, when in reality she laughing in her mind. "Don't worry Sakura. I won't tell Naruto."

"What does Naruto have to do with this?" Sakura questioned. She tried to sound level headed even though Sakura was surprised by her friend's quick change in topic.

"C'mon Sakura, everyone knows he's had a crush on you since the academy. Even though he hasn't been as vocal about it as of late, I can still tell that he likes you. If he found out you liked someone else he'd have a broken heart." Ino's voice was rich with sarcasm, but what she was saying was still true. Ino went to tease her friend further, but her ears picked up on a piece of gossip from across the room.

"That's a lie Toki-chan."

"No it isn't!" the girl yelled back at her friend. How dare he question the fact that she was almost violated like that. "I would never make that up."

All the girls in the group started staring at the male who would dare challenge a statement like the one Toki had just mentioned. Ino could see the venom from the girls. As Ino continued to watch the scene, she noticed that she wasn't the only one. In fact, the conversation was drawing much attention from the restaurant's patrons. All the guys at the bar began snickering at the boy who voiced the wrong opinion and was stuttering to find an answer underneath a heated gaze. After a couple of seconds he gave up.

Toki smirked, "that's what I thought."

"So how were you saved?" a curious girl asked to get her friend to begin regaling her experience again.

Ino had forgotten all about Sakura and began paying attention. Sakura noticed her friend and followed her gaze to a group of civilians. The pink-haired girl just shrugged a began paying attention to what the girl was saying as well. She has lost Ino's attention, for better or worse.

"There I was backed up into the corner," Toki began, "I was scared, my clothes were only shreds and that man was crawling towards me like an animal. He was getting so close and all I could think was _this is the end, this is the end_, but that didn't happen. A kunai with a small tag at the end was thrown out of the darkness right in front of my attacker. I thought an evil ronin might have thrown it to the man to help him, so I closed my eyes.

"When I opened them there was this ANBU standing in between me and that sick person. He whispered something like, 'that kunai was your warning.' He then knocked the guy out faster than I could even see. I was saved, but that's not even the best part."

Everyone paying attention subconsciously leaned in closer as if to hear better. Toki obliged them by leaning in closer herself.

"The ANBU slowly walked over. I was scared at first, we've all heard those nasty rumors about the ANBU, but this one was different. He showed more emotion than I had ever seen by them. He knelt down next to me a caressed my arm. I could feel how powerful he was, but he was holding back to not hurt me. Then he whispered, 'I'm not going to hurt you. Don't worry, you're safe. I won't let anyone hurt you.' He had most angelic voice I'd ever heard. I don't even know who he his, but I bet he's handsome."

All the girls had dreamy looks in their eyes, while the guys tried to scoff it off, but they were definitely jealous. Still, everyone was wondering just who that guy was. Surely Toki had see the mask, if he had gotten as close to her as she said. So, someone asked.

"Did you see the shape of his mask?"

Toki looked up to see who asked the question. It was none other than Sakura. She and Ino had left their table long ago and were now only standing a couple meters away from the group. Toki eyed them for a second and answered their question, "It looked like a kitsune mask."

"A kitsune," Sakura muttered to herself. Toki noticed this and continued to explain further.

"The ANBU who questioned me said that there wasn't anyone registered with that mask, but I know what I saw."

"That's strange," Ino noted, voicing everyone's thought.

What was going on?

* * *

Naruto pushed a branch out of his face. Moving through the undergrowth was becoming a greater hassle than he had anticipated. Vines snagged on to his orange jumpsuit, forcing himself to have to break free. Green leaves were becoming stuck in his wild blond hair as he continued to bushwhack through the forest. Why he had ever decided to walk to the training grounds was beyond him. Naruto sighed; he knew why. After finally getting a break from his responsibilities, part of him just wanted to take things slow. For so long now he had been training for this moment. He just wanted a little rest before he was off again, trying to fulfill the promise—he not only made to Sakura, but to himself.

With one last great push, the blond forced himself out of the thick woods. Unfortunately, he wasn't that graceful; tripping on a tree root and falling flat on to his face. That was really unbecoming of a shinobi. But as Naruto looked up and around, he found the place empty. No, it wasn't. Naruto sensed chakra nearby. It felt familiar. Naruto focused on the energy, and he was surprised to see his sensei.

Kakashi was behind the three logs, looking at a giant stone, the memorial stone to some of Konohagakure's greatest heroes. Naruto stood up and brushed the invisible dirt of his clothes. Sticking his hands into his pockets, the young man slowly made his way over to his sensei. Kakashi didn't seem to care, or even notice for that matter. But Naruto knew that Kakashi was aware of his presence. Naruto stopped by his sensei and looked over the stone. One name and particular caught his eye.

"So this is where you always were when we were younger," Naruto said, his voice barely above a whisper. This place was melancholy.

At first Kakashi said nothing, he only pulled out his little book and began reading, before answering with a quick, "Hai."

"We'll be leaving to intercept Sasuke soon," Naruto tried again.

The silver haired man only nodded.

"Just for the record, it wasn't your fault. I used to think it was mine, but I realize now it was only his."

Kakashi looked down at his pupil, "You shouldn't say such things. It was never your fault Naruto. The mistakes regarding Sasuke fall upon my generation."

"No, that's not true. Sure, everyone could have done something differently, but what happened happened. Sasuke left us. And now I'm going to bring him back, even if I have to give my life." Naruto looked away from his sensei and back to the stone. The names etched there symbolized those who died protecting what they care for the most. Sasuke was the first person to ever acknowledge Naruto's existence, he had to save him. Even if Naruto and Sasuke were bitter rivals. They formed a bond, a bond that only two lost souls could form. A bond where one's own existence proves the existence of the other. It is bond that can only be ended through their deaths.

"You shouldn't have to give up your life Naruto," Kakashi said. The blond quickly looked away from the stone back at his sensei's lone eye.

"No one should have to give up their life, but that stone still exists."

Kakashi was astounded. Never had Naruto acted this way before. In a way, Kakashi was a little disappointed. It was tough seeing this side of Naruto. The silver haired man had known for a long time now that Naruto was like this, but the carefree blond was Naruto as well. He wished that the blond would put on his huge, silly grin, and make everything better. This Naruto though, didn't help the depressing aura that Kakashi felt. This Naruto only served to remind him of his past mistakes.

Kakashi sighed and gave a halfhearted chuckle, "When did you mature so much Naruto?"

Naruto smiled, and it was his huge, silly grin. Instantly, Kakashi felt better. This was the Naruto he knew.

The blond continued to smile, "I guess I've always been this way."

"Really now?" Kakashi asked amused.

"Yeah," Naruto said before trailing off. His face grew serious. His eyes narrowed that slight bit, his brow was scrunched and his lips were almost a thin line. "Sensei, the last time we saw Sasuke, when we were with Yamato, it looked like the teme was skilled in Kenjutsu. Could you teach me?"

The silver haired man smiled behind his mask. It was a strange request, but one that Kakashi was happy to hear. "Of course Naruto, I'm glad after all your training there is still something that I can teach you. Go grab your katana and we'll get started."

This time Naruto took to the trees.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I would like to say I'm sorry that this took so long to become published. I actually had this done for a while, but never found time to finish it. Well, if you notice any mistakes such as grammatical errors, plot holes or major characterization flaws, let me know. Also if you want to tell me I'm a terrible writer, go ahead. People have done it before.

**Glossary:**

Chikusho- essentially equivalent to damn. Swearing is different in every culture, and the culture must be understood in context to give an meaning to the expletive.

Shūmatsu no Tani- Final Valley, better known as the Valley of the End. It is where Naruto and Sasuke first fought after Sasuke's defection. The valley was also where Madara Uchiha fought Hashirama Senju, the first Hokage. Their two visages were carved into the valley.

Kuso- the equivalent of shit I believe.

Oto no Kuni- The land of Sound, formerly known as the Ta no Kuni, the Land of Rice Fields.

Nami no Kuni- The Land of Waves

Buta- pig

Dekorīn- Forehead, in the English anime, Forehead is substituted for Billboard Brow.

**Published: **11/22/10


	6. Chapter 5: Relax

Chapter Five: Relax

**There was a breeze**, followed by the rustling of a branch—leaves shaken from their parent trees would then fall slowly to the ground, forming a distinct path. It was an easy trail to follow, but that didn't matter to the three ninja ducking and swinging through the forest's canopy. Their mission wasn't to be stealthy—at least not at first. It was a retrieval mission. It was a mission to fix the wrongs of the past. It was a mission that would change their lives forever.

The three ninja continued to work their way through the trees. Their every move was carefully calculated, except for one small detail. They were wasting energy. Maybe it was the heat of the moment, or perhaps thoughts of the future, but there was clear sign of struggle; a struggle that filled mind and reflected on to the body. To a trained eye, the struggle of the three shinobi was clear. Their speed, while fast and constant, was just a little too quick. Fatigue was slowly over taking the ninja. Each step, each twist of the body was becoming that more difficult. Their eyes were slowly beginning to feel the strain; the distance of their vision was decreasing. That combined with a weakened mind was causing their reaction speeds to slow—a deadly combination at their current speed.

While these conditions were becoming evident in both of the men, the signs that the shinobi needed rest fell more so on to the cell's lone kunoichi.

Kakashi, the team leader, was beginning to notice this. But he also noticed the fierce look of determination within the cerulean eyes of his other pupil. The elder man mentally sighed; once again he returned to the mental battle warring in his mind. Was it better to stop? Or was it better to continue. On one hand he would upset in Naruto. While on the other hand, he could give Sakura a break. Going over the map he photographically memorized, he noticed that he and his students would be approaching a small inn for travelers in a short while. A nice warm bath and some alone time with his novel was what he needed.

"We'll be stopping at a small spring with an inn for the night just up ahead," Kakashi announced to his students. Kakashi noticed Naruto's face contort with confusion.

"Why sensei? We can make it to the target in one trip, shouldn't we just go ahead and go?" the blond asked.

"Our target is still a day or two away. The reason we waited so long to leave was to give ourselves time to mentally and physically rest for this mission. After traveling the majority of the way, it would be best for us to stop and restore our strength. There's no sense sleeping on the forest floor when you don't have to do so," Kakashi explained. He had his signature smile on his face, but due to his mask and hitai-ite, all that was seen was his lone eye closed.

Kakashi was panicking as Naruto scrutinized him. He just really wanted to relax in the hot springs and read his book. Was that too much to ask for? He noticed Naruto was about to respond, and probably not favorably, because the boy had yet to take on a look of defeat. So Kakashi used his back-up plan.

"Besides, Sakura looks a little winded. None of us need to be tired."

"No, I'm fine sensei," Sakura replied quickly, just as Kakashi expected. And just as Kakashi knew would happen, Naruto turned around to notice his other teammate. He could see her deeper breath and the sweat on her brow. He noticed how every leap she took was shaky, and he could see the bags forming under her eyes. She was tired, and he had to admit that he was tired as well.

Kakashi smiled once again to himself. He loved it when a plan came together.

"Don't worry about it Sakura. Sensei is right. It's probably best that we stop for the night," Naruto replied. The blond didn't want Sakura to over exert herself. He knew that she didn't have the chakra or stamina to keep up, but he really was amazed at how long she did last.

Sakura really did become strong. It hurt Naruto to know that she sometimes felt worthless, but to him she was one of the most powerful ninjas he knew. She could cause an earthquake with a punch, and her skills as a iryō-nin were unmatched by most. Naruto even knew that when it came to raw intelligence he would probably never be smarter. With her assets, the blond knew she wasn't much of a front line fighter. Sakura was just like Tsunade, and the sannin needed their iryō-nin in the exact same way team seven needed Sakura. If only Sakura would see that.

Sakura didn't answer Naruto. She just continued mindlessly following her teammates. The blond knew he'd have to cheer her up. It was too painful to watch her in this state. Luckily, the team soon arrived at the little inn.

The building was very traditional. Large wooden arches led up to the front door. Paper lanterns hung delicately over the well kept gardens. The three shinobi could see the steam rising up from the natural hot springs. Just as the three shinobi reached the door, a young woman dressed in a pink kimono pulled back the screen. It was obvious to the three shinobi just how pretty the girl was; Naruto snickered. Of course Kakashi would want to stop here for the night.

The young woman showed them to the inn's counter, where an older man was waiting. Kakashi paid for two rooms—the use of the springs was included.

After getting the keys, Kakashi tossed them to his students. They each grabbed their key nimbly out of the air. The white haired man then departed, seeing no other reason to stick around. "I'm off to the springs. Stay on the inn's grounds. We need as much strength as we can get for this mission, ja ne."

Naruto looked over at his teammate. Her face was veiled, showing no emotion; generally a sign that something was wrong. Naruto began to ask what was upsetting her, but decided against it. It was probably something to do with Sasuke. It was probably best if he just left it alone for now. Opening his mouth once more, he said, "Well I guess I'll see you in the morning Sakura-chan."

"Okay Naruto."

The two left for their respective rooms.

* * *

Naruto, after walking in, tossed his pack into one of the room's chairs. It was a standard room. There was little furniture besides the necessities. The bathroom was of a reasonable size, and there was a little kitchenette for preparing small meals. The room contained two double sized beds. One was for him; the other, presumably, was for Kakashi.

Naruto kicked off his blue sandals and unzipped his jacket. He slid the orange piece of clothing off his torso, hanging it on the back of the chair now containing his back pack. He slowly walked over to the bed next to the window and collapsed on to the mattress. He rolled over to lie on his back and looked out the window. It would be dark soon and then he could see the stars. The stars had always comforted him. On long nights they were his only companions. When he was afraid as a child, he didn't have parents to run and hide with, so he looked up, to where the stars were. In time, he began to find solace in the stars, because even when the sky was filled with clouds, or smoke; Naruto knew the stars were still there, waiting to shine again.

Naruto just continued to lie in the bed. He felt so restless. The blond knew sleep wouldn't come easy that night. He just had too much on his mind. The blond sat up. He needed to burn off some energy. The moon was beginning to rise; there was plenty of light. Maybe some late night training would be good for him. Kakashi-sensei would wonder where he was, but the blond assumed the man was smart enough to it figure out. Even though his sensei had wanted everyone to stay put, it's not like it was an order. The blond smirked at the thought.

* * *

Sakura didn't know what to do. She had tried falling to sleep, but just couldn't. She knew that she was tired, but it felt more than that. She felt weak. Kakashi and Naruto could have traveled further. After all her training, was she still holding them back? Was she still holding Naruto back?

No, she wouldn't allow that. Not when they were so close in bringing back Sasuke. This time she was going to make a difference. But she still had this feeling like she wasn't ready. Getting out of bed, the pink haired girl stripped out of her night gown and donned on some training clothing. If she wasn't ready, then she would get ready.

Sakura slipped out her window with the stealth of a cat. She didn't want Kakashi or Naruto to find out about this. They were supposed to be resting, and she didn't want to be lectured about over doing herself. She made her way back behind the springs into the forest. The kunoichi stumbled upon a decent sized clearing. It was a good size and just far enough out of the way to where people wouldn't discover it. She was about to jump out into the clearing when she heard a noise.

Sakura quickly reacted, years of training causing a subconscious reaction within her body. She took cover in the tree, while masking her chakra. With her mastery of chakra control, she was nearly undetectable. Her eyes began scanning for the source of the sound she heard. And she was surprised by what she saw.

There was an ANBU captain standing in the field. By the looks of it he was alone. Sakura couldn't see any of features. They were covered up by his tan coat. She did notice that he had his standard issue Katana drawn. He was making elegant motions with his weapon. Long sweeping slashes and quick jabs were choreographed into an almost perfect routine. Sakura wasn't an expert swordsman, but she had read a few books and seen samurai. Even with her limited knowledge, she could still see the small mistakes.

That was strange, considering that this ANBU was a captain. Most ANBU were required to be very prolific with a katana. It looked like the one before her was still getting used to the blade. It didn't look like the weapon had yet to become a natural extension of his arm. Still, regardless of that particular handicap, he must have been powerful. There's no other way Tsunade would've had him promoted to a captain unless he was.

Suddenly, the ANBU looked her way. She hid herself, all the while swearing to herself. She was so caught up in watching the shinobi train that she must have been getting careless. After a couple of seconds, she hadn't been confronted. The iryō-nin decided that maybe he hadn't seen her yet. She took another cautious look back at him. He was still looking towards her, but then she noticed a large flock of birds fly out of the tree in front of her. The ANBU stood there, watching the flock disappear beyond the tree tops.

So, that's what he had sensed, a large group of birds. Sakura let a out the breath she didn't know she was holding and focused in on the ANBU again. She was curious to see the mask. Then she would know his codename. It wasn't often one was able to see such a strange behavior from an ANBU. Tsunade-shishō was very loosed lipped sometimes With a little luck, maybe she could understand just what was going on with this ANBU. Sakura smirked, she would also have some gossip that not even Ino could dig up. Now all she needed was a good look. The pink haired kunoichi focused a little chakra in her eyes. Her sight became blurry for a moment as her eyes tried to refocus. Luckily, she had a clear look at the black ops shinobi; the shape of the mask—

Her eyes widened, and the girl made an inaudible gasp. Sakura rubbed her eyes and looked again. There was no doubt left. It was a kitsune.

The same ANBU from the story, the one described by the girl at the barbeque restaurant. She wasn't lying. It was real. Now what was that ANBU doing out here? What the heck was going on? Sakura turned around to leave. She found out everything she wanted to know. And she could no longer train with that strange ANBU around. Kakashi was in ANBU. Many of the ANBU still enlisted knew her sensei. And there was a good chance that if that ANBU noticed her he'd tell the white haired man, then she'd have to explain herself, something that pink haired kunoichi didn't feel like doing. Sakura looked back over her shoulder to see if the ANBU had found her, but the kitsune masked man was gone.

So much for getting a little secret training in. If she wasn't supposed to be resting, then her night wouldn't have been ruined. Sakura sighed. There was no point dwelling on the situation. Maybe it was just a good idea to go back to the springs and relax a little. Her little trip, while shorter than expected, had taken up a good chunk of time. It was beginning to get late. A good long soak in the hot bath at the inn was beginning to seem like the right idea.

* * *

Naruto let out a relaxed groan as he slid into the men's hot spring. The warm water quickly began to massage his sore muscles. He didn't even notice how tired he was. Naruto sucked in a breath of air. It was moist with steam, but the heat cleared is lungs. He took a couple more before he allowed his breathing to return to normal. Naruto looked around the the bath area. It was nice. A rock garden was on the far side of the area. There was a little water feature, filling the area with a relaxing sound. Next to the rock garden was a little shed that was probably used to store the equipment used for the bath's maintenance.

A thick bamboo fence surrounded the spring itself. From the entrance the green stalks circled out and around the other features before passing by Naruto and cutting through the spring. The fence then ended right at the wall where the door to the changing room was located. Naruto assumed that the spring was most likely divided into two halves; the men on one side with a mirror image of the men area for the women. Of course, Naruto felt no need to confirm his suspicion, unlike a certain ero-sennin.

Naruto let himself sink completely underwater. He stayed for a couple of seconds before coming back up for air. The water tasted salty, probably from the minerals in the spring. Naruto shook his head, to rid his hair of the excess water. Some of hair stood back up, but most of his bangs were still hanging off the side of his head. The blond hair in front almost completely covered all of his eyes.

Naruto leaned back. Now he must going to relax. He shut his eyes and just listened to water feature. Okay, so maybe there was more than one reason why Kakashi wanted to stay here. It was very relaxing here. Also with the threat of Akatsuki, many travelers were staying off the road. Many inns like this one were suffering, but at least it wasn't crowded.

"Naruto? Is that you?" A feminine voice called from the other side of the fence.

Naruto opened one of his eyes and brought his handing to his ear, as if it would help him hear better. "Sakura?" he yelled backed. It was her, who else could it be?

"Yeah," she replied. Naruto heard his teammate swim towards the fence, so she could talk with him without having to yell. Naruto inched closer and leaned his back against the bamboo divider. Sakura did the same. When she was comfortable, the kunoichi muttered, "I didn't think you would be awake this late."

"I had trouble sleeping," was his reply. Sakura understood. It was kind of the same reason why she was there.

"Same here."

An awkward silence arose between the two; something that didn't happen very ofter. What really was there to say? They could ask about the rooms, but they already knew what would happen. The answer would be that they were nice. Naruto would most likely complain about having to share a room with sensei, and Sakura would probably say she was fine by herself. It was a conversation that had already been had before, but on eve of meeting Sasuke, that line of thought felt out of place. The air was beginning to get stiff as the two kept up their silent vigil. Sakura was beginning to curse herself for getting the two into this mess. She didn't know what to say. He was sitting right there, on the other side of the spring in the warm water with nothing but a—no! She wasn't going to go there.

With all the thoughts of Sasuke and Naruto, she remembered the last the last time they saw their other teammate. She thought about how the raven-haired boy almost killed Naruto. If it wasn't for Sai, would Naruto even be alive now? Sakura shuttered at the thought.

"Naruto," she whispered through the fence.

"Yeah," he answered simply.

"Promise me you won't die this mission."

"What?" he asked surprised. The shock of the question caused him to turn around stare awed at the fence. There's no way she just said that. His voice was caught in his throat, but even he found the words, he still only croaked out, "excuse me?"

Sakura turned around to look at the fence, "I said, 'promise me you won't die.'"

Naruto's voiced was rushed when he replied. "Why would you ask that?"

Sakura rubbed her upper forearms. Even in the spring she was beginning to feel goosebumps settling in, but it had to be done. Sakura worked up all the courage she could, but even then she could only say two words.

"It's just—"

Naruto began to think about what was going on. This probably had something to do with Sasuke, seeing as how she asked him to not die on this particular mission. He began searching his latest memories, finally remembering the most recent mission with Sai and Yamato-taicho. His eyes widened at the thought. She thought he was almost killed by Sasuke. But Naruto was also confused by the question. How could he fulfill his promise to her if he was dead?1

"Don't worry Sakura, I'll definitely bring him back this time," it felt like he had said those words before. It pained the blond as the phrase passed by his lips. He felt regret and sadness. There were so many mistakes that he had made. It was time to right the wrongs of his past, so he could finally work towards building a better future.

Sakura noticed that he said "I'll" instead of "we'll." He was planning on bringing back Sasuke alone, without her. Even after she said they would do it together. Did he believe that she wouldn't be useful in helping him? No, Naruto would never think that. It was her fault. She made him make that stupid promise. It was burdening him. That's why she trained so hard. This way she could help carry the load she had imposed on him. He almost died trying to fix her mistake.

"No Naruto," she whispered through a crack in the fix. "We're going to bring him back, the two of us, together."

_Together_ he thought. They would make their team whole again. But, Naruto wasn't so sure that that would be the outcome. Sasuke was becoming a killer as cold and swift as the blade he carried. Their raven haired teammate would show no mercy; he had made that perfectly clear. Returning Sasuke was a burden that he needed to carry. The fight would be bloody and vicious; the danger of it didn't even need mentioning. The least Naruto wanted was to see Sakura hurt. She was talented, intelligent and strong. She had become an amazing kunoichi while he was away, but she wasn't a front lines fighter or killer. She healed. Her hands weren't soaked in blood, nor had she been confronted by death. There was an innocence about her, not of ignorance or childhood.

But she had not seen some of the worst life had to offer. In a way, that was something to be admired. Even though she hadn't seen death, or lived in poverty. She became an iryō-nin. She was still giving back and helping others. And Naruto respected that. It was a feeling he only reserved for her, among other things. Could she really kill Sasuke if it came to it? Naruto didn't know, and he didn't need an answer. Only he would bare that weight on his conscience. That way no one else would.

Still, he liked the idea. He wanted to do the mission with her. Just the two of them, together.

Although, the pragmatic solution still dictated otherwise, but Naruto hoped it wouldn't come to that.

So the blond put on the best smile he could muster, regardless of whether Sakura could see it or not, and said, "Yeah, we'll do it together Sakura-chan."

* * *

Kakashi awoke feeling quite rested. Glancing over at the clock provided, the white haired man noticed the time was six in the morning. It was the same time as always when he stirred from sleep. Many years of training had formed the unbreakable habit. But opening his eyes was only part of jonin's normal morning ritual. He still needed to make himself presentable. Hygiene was an important part of being a shinobi, a must for someone of his stature.

Hidden villages were almost like businesses. Their existence depended on the missions given to shinobi. For the wealthier upper class, if a shinobi looked clean and maintained it was a signal of the villages power, and not just in strength. It reflected the economic status of the village. If the village was financially stable, the chances were that the village was safe. If the village was safe, it would be easier to do business. The economy also reflected the mission success rate. If a village completed most of its mission, chances were they'd get more requests. Thus, they would get more income. Appearances were the most important part of this system. Clients, to a degree, are always somewhat vain. But this concept alone was one that many shinobi failed to grasp. The elder generation was such a group.

The elders of Konoha were too focus in the old ideals of shinobi. Power was no longer the driving force behind the shinobi world. Consider two merchants that sold apples. One merchant had the tastiest, sweetest and ripest apples; the other had good apples, but they could never be better than the first merchants produce. If these were the only qualities needed, the first merchant would do better. But, what if we added another condition? The first merchant reflected the ideals of the old shinobi order, powerful and looming—essentially ruling by fear. The second merchant reflected the principle of appearances; the second was cheerful and nice—accommodating when needed and very persuasive.

With the newer scenario, the second merchant would do better. While the product may have been of inferior quality, the service and experience was better. Shinobi did not have the best reputation. Many were hired assassins, killers for the right price. A village that held the friendliest atmosphere and made potential clients feel safer even when surrounded by death was more likely to draw in people. If the economy was strong, funds could then be used for strengthening of the village's military power. A powerful nation with little economy will always fail. Konoha had not truly embraced this idea. And the politics was beginning to unravel at the seems. Change was coming, the white haired man understood that.

So Kakashi freshened up. When he was done he stepped from the bathroom to notice that his student was still fast asleep. His feet were hanging off the side the bed, and most of the covers had fallen on the floor. A thin line of drool was collecting on the blond's pillow. As a child, Naruto wore pajamas, but he had outgrown the habit while on the road with Jiraiya-sama. Now, he was only dressed in a sleeveless white shirt and his boxers, but his lovable cat night hat still remained—even that was becoming a rarer sight though. But at the moment, the sight was enough to bring a smile to Kakashi.

Naruto represented the new generation of shinobi. His appearance was always light and happy. He was able draw even the darkest spirits into his friendly exuberance. But while some faked these qualities, the blond was always pure in his intentions. And only one person had ever been able to escape the blonds clutches. Hopefully soon, that would be fixed.

For the moment everything was peaceful, so Kakashi pulled out his little green book and began to read. Naruto would wake up in time. But even while the jonin read, he couldn't break his musings about Naruto. It was miraculous that after all this time, the boy at heart was still the same. A good thing too, the world would become too dark without its second sun.

* * *

**Glossary:**

Iryō-nin- Medic-nin

Taicho- used as an honorific for captain. Yamato-taicho is essentially Captain Yamato.

**Author's Note:** This one felt a little choppy to me. Anyone else think so? Also if you notice any mistakes, hit me up with a review, and I'll fix it immediately. I'm not perfect you know.

P.S. This chapter is a little shorter than normal, but I felt like this was a good spot to end it. And Happy New Year Eveyone. Unfortunately, my holidays are over. So expect the next chapter whenever.

**Published: **1/5/11


	7. Chapter 6: Prelude

Chapter Six: Prelude

**The sun's rays** had finally crept their way to the boy's eyelids. A short grunt was made followed by the sound sheets sliding against other sheets. The boy's blond hair was unruly having lost his cat hat sometime during the night. It was sticking out in many different directions, but a few stray bangs dangled in front of the his cerulean eyes. A thin line of dried drool trailed down his cheek. The boy's hand unconsciously wiped away the crusty saliva while he sat up in the hotel bed. He stretched his arms over his head. The powerful muscle under his chest, shoulders and upper back moved slowly with his arms, relieving the tenseness. An audible "pop" was heard as a bone slid back into it's correct socket. With that taken care of, the blond rolled his head around slowly to loosen his neck muscles. His vision blurred for just a moments as too much blood drained from his head with the early morning movement.

With his eyes once again refocus, the blond tiredly looked around the room. He saw his sensei sitting near the room's little table. The older man was reading his little green book in the dim light. The silver haired man moved to flip a page, seemingly haven't noticed his student, but Naruto knew otherwise.

"Ohiyo, Kakashi-sensei," the blond yawned, not bothering to cover his mouth. Naruto noticed that his lips were dry and quickly swiped his tongue over them to re-saturate the red/pink flesh.

"Ohiyo, Naruto," his sensei flipped another page.

Naruto shook his head trying rid his mind of the feeling of grogginess that seemed permeate throughout his senses. "What time is it?" he asked, his voice less shaky than before. His body was slowly becoming alive. Naruto felt a slight annoyance at just how long it was taking him to get moving. He shouldn't have been this tired. Suddenly, a spark went off in his mind.

_Promise me you won't die._

He stayed up later than he thought he would, but he had needed time to think. Time that was well wasted as it seems as fatigue finally caught back up with him. Just when did he fall asleep, and what time was it now?

"It's earlier than you think, sunrise was only half an hour ago," Kakashi replied. This time he looked up from his back at his student. He observed his student closely, his eyes were still slightly lidded with sleep, and his movements were slow and forced. Something curious happened last night, but the older man didn't voice his thought. Naruto wouldn't give him an answer, and he was in no position to make demands. Even though it didn't seem that way, the boy was well rested; in Naruto's case a slow rise was a good sign. This boy's disheveled hair and the messy state of his bed didn't cause any alarm, everything seemed normal.

"Why don't you go wash up?" the silver haired man suggested. "I'm sure with a good shower you'll feel awake and ready to go."

"Good idea sensei," replied the boy as he stood up. He gave one final large stretch before limping slowly over to the inn's tiny bathroom.

The sound of running water broke silence in the room. Kakashi, no longer interested in reading, finished reading the page he was on. He took note of the number and flipped the book closed. He slid the book into the outer left chest pocket of his flak jacket before standing up. It was probably about time to check on Sakura. She was most likely awake, but it couldn't hurt to make sure. When Naruto was done he'd most likely want to leave as soon as possible. And Kakashi would be lying to himself if he said that he'd rather stay. Sakura was sure to be eager as well.

* * *

Naruto's orange jumpsuit was brighter than normal in the early morning sun. The smile on his face radiated with a unique passion. Kakashi saw one of the hotel's employees become swooned with Naruto's exuberance. The older man was thankful Sakura didn't seem to notice the other girl's behavior as it seems the rose haired girl was also taken in by Naruto's attitude. Even Kakashi let himself give a small grin beneath his mask.

"I'm glad to see you're fully awake now, Naruto, but I think it is time that we departed," Kakashi said with as much merry that the normally sedated shinobi would let show.

"Hai sensei." The three leapt into the trees.

It was quite a spectacular day. The sky was clear and the most magnificent shade of blue. The sun glowed with fierce intensity that breathed life into the forest. The birds were chirping and humming a cheerful tune. Many of the forest's little critters were playing. A few squirrels fought over nut by jumping from branch to branch to get the upper hand. Wild deer trekked through the underbrush, crunching dead leaves as they went. Every assortment of animal from the little tree frogs to the mischievous monkeys was out to enjoy the day.

The three shinobi couldn't keep themselves from relaxing in the picturesque environment they stumbled upon as they traveled through the forest's dark green and cool canopy. Even though they were a good day's worth of travel from home, it still felt like they had never left. It was peaceful just like Konoha and the three did little to ruin nature with their presence. The only evidence that the three were in the forest was the rhythmic sound of sandal meeting meeting tree limb. Maybe it was out of fear of disturbing the forest, but a word wasn't passed between the shinobi, but maybe words weren't necessary at all. The presence of the woods and the presence of each other was all that was needed.

Speech could do little to describe their feeling anyways. The forest welcomed them. The sounds animals and the wind spoke of friendship and camaraderie echoed the own thoughts of the shinobi. Their team had been fractured and hurt by betrayal; scorned by false promises and the lust for selfish desires. The woods whispered a different story, one of hope for a better future and forgiveness. The wind mentioned a desire for wholeness. The branches led to the right path, allowing for anyone who strayed away to find their way again.

Then something changed. The sounds became quieter; the forest grew patchier. The animals of the forest stayed away from the open spaces with less cover to hide from predators. The terrain was a little rockier and hills rose from the earth. Something was no longer right, but the shinobi didn't seem to notice.

Kakashi put up his arm, signaling that it was time to stop. "Alright, let's make camp here. We should be able to sense anyone traveling close to this area." Kakashi bit his thumb and with a practices ease went through a set of hand signs before slamming his hand into the ground. A seal made of black ink spread out from his hand before disappearing in poof of smoke. The silver haired man moved back to put some space between himself and the ball white smoke that was beginning to dissipate. Once the smoke was gone, eight ninken were left standing in a circle. Kakashi smiled at his faithful companions before waving them off. The command was understood and the eight dogs disappeared into the surrounding forest to begin tracking for any shinobi.

Satisfied, the one eyed man looked to see what his students were doing. Sakura was already beginning to set up traps as an extra precaution. Naruto on the other hand had already unsealed some camping equipment was beginning to set up two tents. Kakashi felt a small amount of pride overwhelm him. His two students didn't need to be told what to do and were diligently working together as a team. With that fleeting moment over, the proud sensei began helping his student set up the tents.

Normally, one would go gather firewood, but that luxury couldn't be afforded this mission. A fire would be too easy to spot from far away, and this mission required stealth and surprise to be effective. Hopefully, the temperature wouldn't drop too low. It had been a very warm day, but with the sky void of clouds, it would cool much more quickly. It wasn't quite winter yet. The conifer rich forest was always green, but the few flowering, wide leaf trees were beginning to change color, filling the scenery with patches of browns, oranges and yellows. With the acme of autumn only a breath away, the days in Hi no Kuni were still hot, followed by moderate nights—the team of shinobi were thankful for that at least.

Fall is always the most divided in terms of how people accept its coming. It is either scorned as the prelude to winter, or adored as the end of summer. Winter can be a harsh, bitter time of year, but a light snow can bring warmth and light to anyone's eyes. Summer is fun in the sun. Longer days allow for endless activities, but in the southern regions, the air is so warm in humid, the world becomes stagnant and dreary. This makes a division between seasons, and with many different opinions, it's those views that mark fall. Autumn is the harvest season, but for many who have access to stores of food year round, the laborious work of gathering crops and the delight of having finished doing so is lost on the masses.

Now, why isn't spring the same as fall? Spring has the benefit of being a time of new life. Everything blooms and somethings awaken from hibernation. The worst of winter is over by spring, and the best of summer has yet to arrive. The feelings are different. It's only a subtle difference one might argue. And perhaps that point is true, but don't think that that doesn't have great importance. It does. It always does.

Even with the ideas of autumn only being a broad generalization, the shinobi knew this season was of great significance. Love or hate, beginning or end, for the better or the worse, something was coming that would change the very foundation of the world, and everyone knew it. Maybe the importance was lost to most, but the world was beginning to follow a sequence of events that would make all the difference.

* * *

The night was passing by painfully slow. The moon has already reached apogee of its ascension into the night sky and was beginning to set towards the western horizon. For the shinobi waiting at their camp, it meant four more hours until sunrise.

There was nothing to do. Sleep did not come easily, and very little had actually been had.

The small team was much too anxious. Tomorrow was an important day, but it just wouldn't seem come. Everyone was prepared. Years of training, months of thinking, days of planning and hours of checking equipment, it all boiled down to one moment. A single point in the future that fascinated every single member of the team.

The intelligence reports were specific enough. The mission objective could happen in mere seconds or could take more than a day. It was just so frustrating, causing everyone to get a little jumpy. Why couldn't the world just move on instead building up all of this unnecessary and painful tension?

The real problem was the night. The darkness permeated nothing but a dim silence. There was the occasional rustle of clothing or the crushing of leaves, but there was no conversation or sound of wildlife in the distance. The area was barren and devoid of life, and the three ninja there did little to prove otherwise. Unknowingly, and completely not wanting to do so, the small party had condemned themselves to watching the stars in the sky drift slowly in a counterclockwise circle around the north star.

At first, being quite ambitious, Naruto had silently tried to find new constellations within the great cosmic backdrop. He found amusement in this for first couple of hours, but the action had drained from him, along with his energy. An hour or two sleep had restored him some, but he had awoken once again to the same sky he had fallen asleep with. The blond had surrendered in trying to find anything productive to do, and even though he tried with all of his might, he was not Shikamaru. If only he could watch stars like his friend could watch clouds, all of his problems would be solved.

Sakura's time was more well-spent. At first, she had cleaned out her weapons pouch. She organized her many tools and double checked her blades. After filing would could be sharpened, she had neatly placed back everything in its proper spot. At that point, she tried to rest, and like Naruto, she was somewhat successful. Nerves had gotten the best of her. Once again awake, Sakura unsealed some of her medical textbooks and read them. Having read them before, she knew all of the material. Still, she reasoned that a rare condition could occur and reviewing her knowledge could be useful. The rosette wanted most to go train until she collapsed from exhaustion, but that was completely out of the question. Kakashi would never allow her to go, and fatiguing one's self before a mission had the tendency of being fatal.

When it came to the team leader, he had been in a peaceful slumber for quite a while and was showing no signs of waking up. His pupils were curious how the silver haired man was able to accomplish such a remarkable feat. Although the older man didn't show it, his students knew that their sensei was just as anxious as they were, but he had found himself within sleep's comforting embrace. It seemed like a riddle. In reality, the answer was quite simple. Kakashi had read his book for a while, but unlike Sakura who was trying to study to remember, the jonin had let the story clear his mind. With his mind clear, the man was able to finally sleep, having had many years of practice from being on tense missions—having been in ANBU helped. Sometimes rest was a necessity one couldn't afford to miss, not in their line of work.

Kakashi awoke an hour before sunrise. Between the time of the man stirring and daybreak, very little occurred within the camp. Conversation was very sparse; a very strange occurrence for a team that was more attune to a family than co-workers. A few random phrase like "Good Morning" and "Sleep well?" were mentioned, but apart from that, everyone just wanted to stare into space. It was probably the unified hope that if all three participated in doing nothing they would all fall into a trance and time would pass by faster.

Time decided that Team 7 would not have it easy.

Kakashi Hatake had experience with time—the good and the bad, but in this case, he was reflecting on some of his previous misfortunes. While during his time with ANBU, he experienced many stakeouts. Sometimes it was for assassinations, but mainly his missions dealt with reconnaissance. Those missions were boring and trivial when compared to the mental trauma inflicted by Itachi Uchiha's Tsukuyomi. If he were any lesser of a man, the famous shinobi would have shuttered at the thought of the pain he had endured while caught within Itachi's genjutsu. In the span of a second, the silver haired jonin had endured days of torture within his own mind. In that moment, time had become his enemy; when it had stopped, cursing him.

And his students thought that they had it bad.

The jonin had at some point during his musing had moved to lean his back on the trunk of an old Oak. There adequate space for the man on the low branch he occupied, but he let his left leg sway off to side anyways. His right leg was curled up to allow his little green book a spot to rest as he read. A strange muse caused him to look up from his current passage and study the tree and nature around him once more. For an Oak, it was quite tall. The bark was a rich, dark brown. The leaves were still a rich green that clung to thin, but strong branches.

This part of the forest was thinner, filled with holes from plants that had died long ago. Only the strong remained in this isolated area, and that's what the oak was—a survivor. Being so close to the rocky hills further ahead, this area suffered from random droughts to sudden flashes of storms. Kakashi knew from experience, when it rained in this area, it poured.

Speaking of storms, the man looked up into the azure sky. A few thin, wispy clouds fluttered by on a light breeze, but other than that, it was empty. It was peaceful. The man narrowed his lone eye as he studied the air. Perhaps it was instinct, possibly his many years, but something was giving him a feeling.

Looking down at his students the man said, "it looks like a storm is coming."

His students didn't say anything, instead they looked to the sky to draw their own conclusions. It didn't matter if he was right or if his students students believed him. The sinister feeling kept crawling up the single-eyed Sharingan user's spine like a kunai slicing through his flesh.

A single, stray thought crossed his mind causing his heart to sink down into his stomach. Maybe it wasn't the thought of the storm that was bothering him, but he prayed that it was.

Time moved on.

* * *

Kakashi was suddenly jarred by his senses. He quickly put away his book and stood up on the branch. Reaching out with his chakra, the jonin searched for the incoming disturbance. After narrowing in on the source, he began searching with his lone, uncovered eye. He could see something small and brown, running on four legs. The familiarity of chakra finally washed over him and he knew what was coming, Pakkun.

"Naruto! Sakura!" Kakashi called out to his students. He spared a quick glance at them and noticed that they had already sensed his ninken and were already scrambling to prepare.

Pakkun landed on the tree branch that Kakashi was standing on. Looking up at his master, the little dog spoke clearly and concisely, without a hint of weariness in his low, gruff voice, "We found him. He's approximately 30 klicks northwest of here. The others are already forming a perimeter to contain them until we arrive."

The jonin nodded in understanding. He looked down at his students who were packing up the supplies. "Leave everything we don't need," he ordered, "we can come back later. Sasuke could leave at any moment. There's no time to waste." With one look at Pakkun, the little dog understood the message and began leading the team to their target.

His students answered with a quick, "Hai." They scurried to catch up with their sensei, but soon filed in stride with the furious pace Pakkun was setting as the four dashed through the thinning forest. Adrenalin was being pumped ferociously through each of their veins. This was it. This was their moment, and the feeling was unlike any before it. A sense of the jitters was mixed a strange of serenity that seemed to halt everything but the mission. Each step, every breath, was for one cause, to bring back Sasuke Uchiha.

A battle was being waged in each mind of the shinobi. It was battle of control, or a lack thereof. Would they stay cool and level headed, keeping the ability think, or give into emotion, losing judgment for the sake of a short burst of energy?

Naruto knew he had to stay in control. Emotion always meant the Kyuubi, the demon, pain, suffering. If he lost control—he didn't want to think about that. It would never come to that again. If they were going to fight Sasuke, they needed a plan, something to keep them in control. A plan begins with information, and that was something they didn't have yet. Using his chakra, Naruto manipulated a small amount into his eyes. With his sense already enhanced by his unruly tenant, the ability of the blond's eyes were increased ten fold. With the sight of a falcon, he searched the area up ahead, and that's when he noticed something, traps.

They looked like exploding tags, no doubt armed to explode at any sign of movement.

That's when a plan formed in his mind. It was an unfair one. He would have to break a promise to keep another, but it was something that had to be done. This was his burden to bare, and he would face the consequences of his actions.

The orange clad ninja reached into his bag attached to the back of his waistband, and grabbed a kunai. When he tried to take it out, the blade snagged itself onto the khaki colored material of its holder, shaking itself from his grip. With his hand no longer attached to the tiny weapon, gravity snagged it instead, pulling it to the forest floor below.

Kakashi noticed his students actions, and just as Naruto was about to go retrieve it, the older man told him no. "Forget about it, we need to keep moving."

Naruto smiled. The grin did not go unnoticed by Kakashi, but the man knew better than to say anything. His student was planning something, but the jonin was unaware of what that entailed. Ignoring the problem for now, the man decided it would be for the better if he let things play out. At least his blond student had a plan, which was surprising to say the least. Naruto having a plan? Much had changed in the past few years.

The team was soon upon the traps. With Pakkun at the lead, the three-man squad was able to avoid or at least quietly disable all of the devices meant for their death. The tiny dog stopped on a branch that allowed a hidden lookout over the clearing. Kakashi, next in line, stopped beside his little summon. The jonin heard Sakura land on the branch below him. She had a hard gaze, and her lips were pressed together into a firm line. To her sensei, it seemed like she was trying to mask her emotions by burying them underneath raw determination, but the kunoichi was always very fragile. The masked man was worried that at any moment she could crack. He still had faith in her. He would have to watch her carefully though.

Naruto could take care of himself. He always had, but at that moment, the knuckle-headed ninja wasn't being himself. Instead of following the rest of him team into the same particular tree, he had landed in the one directly adjacent. Kakashi and Sakura barely had time to think when the sound of a spark flicked into their ears.

The small fire on an exploding tag seemed to erupt slowly to both of their sets of eyes. In the split second that followed, Kakashi knew it was too late for Naruto, but for Sakura and he, they would still need to escape or else risk getting caught in the explosion. With years of training and all the speed and dexterity he could muster, Kakashi jumped down to grab Sakura. Hooking an arm around her small figure, he prayed that he wouldn't be too late.

Sakura's emerald irises never left Naruto's cool sapphire ones. In the short time the two had, their emotions played across their eyes like the reflection on a lake's surface. Surprise, then disbelief and, finally, an overwhelming sense of hopelessness and fear pooled in the kunoichi's eyes. As Sakura looked to Naruto, she could see only one emotion being displayed to her. It was enough to make her shatter—a little message, contained within his deep and clear azure orbs, that said, "I'm sorry."

After that, flames ripped, slashed and clawed at everything in sight. Bright oranges, golds and reds blinded Sakura. Her arms unconsciously covered her face as the heat quickly climbed to scalding, unbearable levels. The air expanded rapidly into a giant shock wave that overtook Kakashi and Sakura rocketing them away epicenter of the explosion, right into the clearing.

The two hit the ground hard, but Kakashi had shielded Sakura from most of the collision. The man's back would hate him, but they were alive. For the pink haired girl it felt like something had died within, and that feeling rose within her into a single emotional outburst. Her mind was blank, and as she felt completely overwhelmed by her inner turmoil, she screamed as she had never before.

"Naruto!"

But the world never stands still. Life keeps moving on regardless of the loss. Perhaps, Sakura's world stopped for a moment, but another man's kept moving just the same.

That same man only grunted at the sight of what occurred.

A storm began to flare up beyond the crest of the hill where the black haired man was standing. Sasuke Uchiha cared nothing about what happened, but what was going to happen. The potential rain and lightning didn't phase him. If anything, it excited him; it was his element. His Sharingan eyes spun rapidly as they surveyed his old team. His only sensei stood back up to face him with an intelligent determination in his stance. Kakashi, even with back up, was going to be a difficult opponent. Sakura was still. The weak, annoying fan girl was a different story from her sensei, but there was still one more problem to worry about.

A man in tan coat emerged from the trees landing in between Kakashi and Sakura. Porcelain mask and stone cold face met, and the temperature dropped. Rain began to fall, soaking everything. Lightning and the resounding thunder gave a raw display of nature's power and fury, but the standoff between Sasuke and the masked man continued undisturbed.

Then something happened. It was unexpected, but almost completely unnoticeable. The edge of Sasuke's mouth moved into a smirk. He closed his eyes, his precious, unmatchable eyes. It was a sign of disrespect, a shinobi should never take his sight off the enemy. The man didn't stop there.

"Poor Sakura. Still as weak as ever. You should have spent more time training."

It was an obvious bait. The Uchiha just wanted them to attack. Sakura didn't reply to the verbal jab immediately. She was too shaken to even respond, but she had heard the remark. The girl with pink hair knew she had to say something, anything, to defend herself. She had to be strong, but as she opened her mouth, another voice spoke instead.

"Hatake-san, please escort Haruno-san from the premises."

No, she wouldn't let that happen. This wasn't just her fight. It was Naruto's battle as well. He couldn't be dead. He promised he wouldn't die. She wouldn't just abandon him because of a foolish order.

"No, what about Naruto?" she demanded from the concealed man.

When she didn't get an answer she took another look. It was the same ANBU from the other night. What was he doing here? Something clicked in her mind, he couldn't have been here for that? No, it was impossible. Tsunade-sama would never allow it. Her master would do something other that this, wouldn't she? She needed answers.

"Fine then, why are you here? What do you plan to do?"

The man said nothing. That answer would never be good enough. A fire began light light within her.

"I won't let you kill Sasuke. I have to get him back for Naruto. Is Naruto okay? Please, where is he?" She practically yelled those words, her voice straining to overcome the storm. She couldn't take much more of this. Everyone was silent, but this time she got a reaction from the ANBU.

He slowly turned to face her, and the girl awaited his answer. Even though she was sure he was going to give one, there was this feeling that he wasn't going to tell her what she wanted to know. She was right. His answer was short, diplomatic almost. Naruto is fine he told her. Return to the village he ordered. The ANBU would fight Sasuke Uchiha.

She wanted to say something, argue with him, but before her mind noticed he moved, she fell unconscious.

Kakashi knew exactly what was happening. When he was ordered to take Sakura, he did so without protest. This was not his time to fight. The man could handle himself he reasoned, but his mind told him that this was wrong and was confused as to why didn't want backup. Still, a feeling in his gut knew this was the only way. Taking Sakura over his shoulder, the silver haired man jumped back into the treeline. He planned to go as far away as he could. Who knew what kind of damage the two men fighting would cause?

The ANBU, codename Kitsune, looked up at his opponent. Sasuke had his chokuto drawn and at the ready. Kitsune just looked back at him, but Sasuke was unaffected. With a slight cock of his head to the side the Uchiha said, "That was quite a performance, but I'm afraid it's time for you to end your act, Naruto."

* * *

**Glossary:**

Ohiyo- Good Morning

Ninken- Ninja dogs, essentially dogs that have a decent chakra supply and thus are able to work with ninja. Kakashi's are Pakkun, Bull, Urushi, Shiba, Bisuke, Akino, Ūhei and Guruko.

**Author's Note:** I know sorry isn't good enough. I took a really long time. If you're an older reader, thanks for sticking with me this long. I don't really have a good excuse, so I'm not going to try to use one. It's pretty clear I'm not a professional. This isn't my job. I honestly couldn't motivate myself to really get this chapter out on time, but it's finished now. I've been wanting to write this next chapter for a while. That's not a promise, but it's a better sign.

You guys should know the drill by now. Do what you want, review, send me hate mail, like it, hate it or just do nothing. I do save all of the reviews, alerts and favorites in my e-mail until I finish a chapter. I had to delete 53 e-mails this time. For me, that's not bad.

**Published: **10/2/11


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